My Fate is Certainly Uncertain
by Verdigurl
Summary: I don't have a home anymore. I'm trying to find my father in a world that I never wanted to be in. And as my future changes rapidly, even I'm not sure what will happen, because everything seems to go wrong. DinoXOC later on, Re-write of 'Because I can, that's why.'
1. Everything starts with an end

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain **

**Chapter 1: Every beginning starts with an end, and a black cat.**

**Overall Warnings: Swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to : March of Mephisto - Kamelot**

**Sell Your Soul - Hollywood Undead]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

With everything covered in deep, velveteen black, and even with a torch, it was getting hard to distinguish objects in this hell hole. The car was jolting up and down, side to side, thrashing everywhere from hitting pot-holes in this isolated path, making her head bob up and down, that was heading urgently to the nearest airport. The dirt beaten trail resided through a forest that was located to the north of Italy. Rarely it was seen, never used, so sometimes, there would be small branches on the road, or animals that were happily nibbling on a midnight feast. It didn't matter, she ran them all over anyway.

There was only one blood-soaked occupant in the car. It was a brilliant black, Mustang car that she'd inherited from her third uncle, who had passed about two years ago. This was a car that she'd cherished, polished, and was now ripped with bullets and dirty from the wet mud caused by the morning's rain. Her stomach rolled over, and the girl felt like throwing up a few chunks of meat, trying not to gag at the blood on the windscreen that she had tried to get rid of viva the window wipers. Yeah, that didn't work so well.

She sucked it in, feeling the bile burn her throat.

"I have to get out of here." She muttered, glancing over her shoulder, hearing gunshots.

_Fuck._

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I've never been a quiet child. _What's the point_, I remember saying when I was younger, small enough to struggle to see over the kitchen table, _I don't want people to think that I've 'suddenly' disappeared into the background. That would be horrible. _

It drove everybody I knew _absolutely insane._ Screaming inside the house, running in the supermarket, ripping out flowers from their beds, and generally being a large thorn in my mother's backside. (Although, at the time, that was how I though bouquets of flowers were made. Don't ask me why, ask five-year old logic.) She swore by god that either I was going to _die_ of hyperventilation or loss of air, or that she was going to go deaf before I hit twenty. She even thought I had ADHD. But no, apparently to the doctor, I was just a _rambunctious girl who was fueled by the adrenaline of life. A happy, polite girl._

_Yuck, what a dick._ My mother had said, when we were finally in the car from the doctor's office, and I was sitting in the passenger's seat. _Polite girl my ass._

I couldn't blame her for disliking my hyperactivity. (Apparently, caused her to be short-tempered and pregnant, but I knew that wasn't true.) I was a general hell-raiser. But in that, it was because of how other people treated me. If you were nice, back to you, I'd be bluntly honest, in a respective manner. But if you were a downright asshole to my face, or someone else, I'd kick your ass. Literally. There may have been, and I'm sure, a few bruises and possibly a broken bone here or there. It wasn't uncommon.

My mother wasn't the motherly type. She was more of a good friend. Always pretty, always observant and _always_ had some sort of drink in her hand.(It changed to a juice of some sort when she was pregnant.) She certainly wasn't an alcoholic, no. There was nothing wrong with having an early drink at eleven in the 'd leave me alone a lot. Always on the phone, she was being called away. It didn't matter if it was in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, in an instant, she could whip out that phone out of thin air.

It was a blast at first, being left alone in a house. I'd scream up the halls, knock everything over, turn the stereo on really loud. But the, my loudness started to diminish, as I realized how lonely I was.

Today wasn't an improvement. I'd been left alone again, when I should have really been at school, getting ready for the annual play: _Swan lake. _They changed it every year, and this year, I was meant to be a rabbit, which I did not find amusing at all. I was brought up in a mature environment. In itself, I'd wished to get a larger roll, like Odette. Too bad I never get any luck.

It was the normal scenario Just me, watching some sort of cartoon, my eyes locked on the TV while mindlessly, I shoved chips into my mouth. I can't even remember what the show was even about, but what I do remember is that it was interrupted by a phone call.

Tiredly, I stumbled out into the hallway and picked up the receiver, putting it to my left ear. "Hello?"

At first, the voice did not speak a single word, but took a sharp breath in. But then, it spoke.

A man.

"Hello child. Is this the Marchelli residence?"

My eyebrow raised, thinking. That name had come up _a lot_ in the papers found on mothers desk.

"No." I replied, walking into the study, opening the filing cabinet quietly, pulling out the draw with one hand.

"Are you sure?" The man asked, after a pause that resembled water.

"_Are you sure?_" I shot back at him, finding a random file and pulling it out. This man sounded pretty suspicious, asking around for a family name that mother wrote down. She always taught me to be cautious around anyone. _"Are you sure you have the right number?" _

That certainly gave the unknown man some time to think. As I lifted the file out, things dropped out of the bottom. Photos, papers, notes. My five-year old self said a bad word and rested the phone on her shoulder, holding it with her head.

"Are you still there?" I asked, looking down at a photo that had a red cross through it, with tiny red scrawls on the bottom. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't help you. My name's Bianca Thrapshaw. This is my father's house."

"Ah, right." He said, after another pause. "My apologies for disturbing you. I'll go now."

"It's okay. Have a good day sir." I picked the phone back up. "I hope you find this Marchelli person."

"As do I." The man said, and the connection cut.

I pressed the end button and put it back where it came from. Then, I went back into the study and cleaned everything up, shuffling all the fallen pieces of papers back into the notebook coloured file, stuffing it back into the filing cabinet and closing the door behind me. Later, when she got home, her stomach bulging so much that it looked like she'd eaten an entire watermelon, I helped her bring in the bags of groceries, which made her smile.

_Anything interesting happen today? _She asked, flashing her teeth and petting the bump.

_No, _I replied with a big grin, lying.

I never told her about the files hidden under my mattress.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I'd forgotten about those files until a couple of years later, when I was ten, and at the age where mother had let me walk to school on my own. Just because she wasn't motherly didn't mean that she was a _bad_ mother. (It's just that motherhood was a developing trait of hers.) She knew the basics, like talking to Mason constantly to encourage him to speak, or when I was having a bad day, she'd curl up on the couch with me, and we'd watch a movie.

School had gotten better than I though it would. I had actually made friends, surprisingly. I hadn't needed a day like that for a while.

But then one day, I'd felt sick enough to throw up, so I took it on myself to go home. No use telling Mother, since she'd probably be busy with work, with giving the world a piece of her slick, sarcastic mind.

That's what I'd thought, at least.

"_Mom_? What are you doing home so early?" I asked, spotting her form bustling around the kitchen, obviously looking for something that had gotten itself lost. Or rather something well hidden. Suddenly, Mason ran past my legs giggling. "W-What are you doing here Mason? I thought you were meant to be at school?"

Mother looked up at me, apparently only noticing me now. "Phillipa, grab Mason."

"Huh?" I muttered, wondering what the hell she was on about. I noticed the frame of the door. "Heck, what happened?! Did someone try to break into the house?!"

Mother pushed a blue sports bag into my arms, and wrangled Mason beside me. My mouth hung open, as I saw the state of the lounge. The TV had a _massive_ hole put through it, coffee table was broken in half and there were papers everywhere, as they were once books themselves that I read often on days when I didn't feel like attending school.

This wasn't like her at all, to be frantic. I called her name again, fear in my voice. "_Mom?_"

She put her hands on my shoulders and firmly squeezed them, my eyes cringing at the pain. "_Philly..._" She licked and bit her lips, trying to find her voice. "Babe, go get some clothes for you and Mason." She pushed me into the hallway. "Go, hurry! We don't have much time!"

I remember hearing the same fear in Masons voice that was in mine, filled with confusion and uncertainty that only a five-year old could make. I stomped upstairs as quickly as I could, holding onto the railing, turning a sharp right into Masons room. I filled the bag with all the essentials and his favorite teddy-bear, and quickly ran into my room, that was filled with purple wallpaper.

Opening the wardrobe, I piled in shorts, t-shirts and thermals. I didn't need sandals, I thought, probably a million things running through my head at the time, they weren't necessary. So, I took the sneakers instead, swapping them with my Mary-Jane school shoes. Just as I was about to leave, rather recklessly, my foot hooked around the bottom of the metal bed post, tripping me up, my head hitting the floor with a _bang! _

_What's that?_ I mused, as I lied on the floor, my foot pulsing with pain and my ears ringing, hearing loud footsteps on the floor below.

My fingers traced the creased edges of the folder that was sticking out of the side of the mattress causing a dent in the bed-sheets, my memories reminding me what they were.

Hearing my mother's voice urging me to hurry up, that folder was the last thing I took with me from the house.

Then, we left Carson City abruptly, a place I had called home. That was where my friends, my happiest memories were from.

I never saw that place again.

It was only later that I wondered to myself, when it had turned dark, the shining lights from the lampposts reflecting off of the car window.

Would my mother have left me there, if I hadn't gone home from school early?

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I really didn't understand much, about the world that was turning around me. But what I did know about my mothers job, I decided to keep secret It wasn't advisable to go around telling about my mothers job, of how she regularly came home with blood, or even bits on guts, or maybe even brain on her leather jackets.

Four years later, my slide back into normal life didn't go as I hoped it would. Yet again, I was deemed the _'weirdo'_ girl, with midnight short, curly hair, who should be avoided at all costs. And that was okay. I didn't like people much now anyway. If I ever did make more friends, I was sure I'd end up in the same predicament as I did before.

So maybe that's why I was a bit apprehensive about hearing that voice, when I was walking home from school, without my jersey.

_"Good evening." _He said, sitting on the fence. "_Or rather, good afternoon. It's too early to use that greeting." _

At first, I had thought it was one of those snot-nosed guys, or a boy who tried to flirt with anything that moved and was female. So, I ignored him.

"_Wait, come back!_" He yelled, and I turned. My eyes turned into gawking dinner dishes, wide in size, trying to comprehend.

I'm not sure what I could say at the sight in front of me.

"Man, what was in that slushy I was drinking?" I asked myself. "It must have been some sort of drug..."

"_No, you weren't drugged._" The black cat said, leaning forward from the fence. "_I'm right here, talking right in front of you. Clear as day, ya' know?"_

The cat had just said that it could talk. I really must be going crazy.

_"What's with that face, girl? Don't tell me you've never heard of a talking cat." _

"I haven't really had a talking cat before. "I replied in a _I'm-not-so-sure_ voice, thinking that I _must_ be going insane. I mean really, a talking cat?! What the heck would turn up next? I shook my head. "You can't be real."

Twenty seconds later after crying out in pain from being scratched everywhere from my face to my hands, I realized that the cat _was real._ That he _was __talking_ to me in clear English.

"Holy crap..." I muttered, looking at him.

"_Your name._" He asked, twitching his tiny, pink nose.

"You first." I replied, after thinking, my eyes thinning. "Then I'll tell you mine."

"_I asked first._"

"I asked second."

He closed his eyes and sighed. It was strange to hear a cat do something like that, something that I thought only humans did. _"Allemande. That is my given name."_

And that's what was given, so I had no choice but to give him mine.

"My name's Alison Vargay."

"_That's a load of shit._"

"Lillith Margrove."

"_Get real._" He said, snapping out his claws again. "Say it properly before I rip your face."

Now I was the one that sighed, looking around, checking that nobody was seeing me talking to a cat. It wasn't any use for me to get any more negative stigma than I already had. "Name's Phillipa."

"_Nice to meet you Phillipa. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?_"

I shook away what I was thinking about, waving my hand about. "Wait, wait. How is this even possible?!" I leaned in closer and whispered. "Do other people know you talk?"

"_Well, technically, I'm not talking. I'm meowing, but ya just happen to understand me." _He jumped of the fence and into my arms, the slushy that I was holding splattered all over the pavement, barely missing my shoes. _"Must be a hereditary mutation you've picked up._"

"I wouldn't know anything about this." I said, starting to walk again. "But I can tell you that my mother isn't that fond of animals."

"_Keep yer voice down girl!" _Allemande hissed, as I walked into a busy intersection, standing next to a lady with a thrashing three-year old, who was bright red. _"People might think you've gone bonkers!_"

_That wouldn't be so crazy of a theory,_ I thought to myself, as the green man appeared across the street. _I'm already talking to a cat, aren't I?_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

And honestly, that was how I met my first friend. My first, _real_ friend that I felt I could trust, which was something I didn't dish out easily. I didn't care that he was a cat, strangely enough. Made up some lame story to my mother that he was a _poor_ kitty-cat sitting in the rain from my way home and that I just _simply couldn't_ leave him alone there, shivering. I don't know why she let me keep him, but apparently Mason was getting older, and he needed responsibility.

So, he became the fourth member of the family for the next year.

I passed my exams, and Mason found new friends, while I immersed myself in my studies. I also decided to take some sot of physical sport up. I actually wanted to do something like volleyball, but mother insisted I take karate up, for self-defense. Against what, I had no idea, but I agreed with her, not really ready to take up an argument with her, which wasn't a wise choice.

But I'm glad I did, when I spotted the back door open.

That was an absolute no-no in our house, and Mason even knew that well. My first reaction was to duck down low and stay hidden.

That was when I heard the voices of two men in the kitchen.

"What's happening?" The first voice said, a man, who I hadn't heard before. "Have you located the children?"

"No." Another replied, another man who sounded younger. "I heard that her children attend the local schools here."

_How do they know us? How'd they get into the house, good go, where's mother?_

"Ages?"

"One's ten and the other is fifteen, almost sixteen. She attends the co-ed." There was a pause. "We'll defiantly take out the oldest. It would be too much of a hassle to keep her alive. Boss said to kill them anyway."

_What?_

"Darn. The other one will have to go too. If he was younger, it'd be easy to brainwash him into working with us."

I almost jumped out of my socks when I felt something brush against my leg so much, that I grabbed out to lean against the side of the house for support. I knew saying something would probably be the number one thing that would lead me to getting myself in _big big_ trouble, so I raised my eyebrows, as if to say to him '_What the hell are you doing here? What the hell is going on?'_

He seemed to get the gist of it, the part where to not make any noise. But instead of confronting the problem of two strangers musing around in the house, he turned away and started to patter down the driveway, where an unfamiliar BMW was parked on the sidewalk. I knew none of the neighbors in this area were able to afford a car like that, or had any connections with people who had tons of money, so I made a safe guess that the car was owned be the two men.

Allemande sat at the back of the car, next to the boot of the car. _"Open it._" He whispered, and my eyes darted back at the house. "_Quickly now."_

I don't know why I felt surprised when I realized that it was left open. Maybe it was because I was so used to keeping everything locked. Quietly, I let the door of the boot slowly lift up to about half-way.

My jaw dropped.

"What do you _expect_ me to do Al?" I asked, my eyes scanning over the various objects that were crammed into the car, disbelief washing over me. "_Shoot them?" _I shook my head. "No. I'll just call the police."

_"What good would they do?_" He asked, his tail whipping erratically. _"It would only put a target on your back as well as your brothers."_

"I wouldn't feel comfortable doing something like _this._" I shook my head again. "_I can't shoot a person." _

He scratched my ankles, and when I knelt down in pain, cradling them, he looked me right in the eyes, as mine were beginning to become cloudy. "_Would you feel comfortable leaving now, knowing that they're after the rest of your family too? You know your mother's profession. You don't need to be comfortable to kill someone, idiot." _He bobbed his head. _"Cause if you don't shoot them first, they'll make the first move themselves."_

"I don't know..." I whispered, reaching out for the nearest one, the one with a long barrel, and what looked like a device that you used to lock on a target. I loaded it with four bullets and turned the safety off. "I just hope Mom gets here soon."

I followed Al back to the house, walking around crouched, looking through every window with the most absolute caution I could muster. My eyes spotted one of the light fixtures in the lounge, which was around the front of the house, that was broken. Moving shadows were filling the walls, looking as if they were making a move to leave. This made me decide to enter through the back door.

I took my school shoes off and threw them onto the grass. They hardly made a sound, as I tiptoed into the house, Al following after me. There was glass everywhere, and I spotted specks of red, making my heart jump.

The outlay of the house was simple, and it attended our needs. If you entered through the doorway, you'd find yourself in a short hallway, which turned left, and then right, which lead to the lounge, that had only one door. Going through that door lead to another hallway that had the doors of Masons and Mothers room. I slept in the attic. The third door lead to the bathroom, and the one next to it was the kitchen door, which was wide open.

I silently braced myself with a nod, and poked the barrel through the door. Hearing that there was nothing that saw me, I stepped through and quietly made my way to the lounge hiding behind the door.

"It's sad." I heard the man say, the first guy, I think.

"Sad isn't an excuse. It's a barrier for getting a job done." Another pause. Breathing. Possibly looking at each other, communicating with their eyes. I didn't know. Nor did I care. "Let's get out of here and find the youngest first. The children should still be still at school."

_Shit! They're going after Mason! Oh Shit!_

_Go get them then!_

_But I can't_

_Why not? They're going to kill you. Look at yourself girl, you're shaking._

_But I..._

_Don't be sorry for people who want to kill you._

My mind was in shatters, and I'm pretty sure I felt my face become wet with my own tears of fear.

_Just go for it. Use a double hit kill._

I didn't realize, or even notice my legs pulling me up, and into the lounge, with the rifle held up to my chest. The men were dress in black business suits, and as a second passed, the first man I saw fell to the ground, his white shirt blossoming with the colour red that inked out onto the carpet, two shells landing beside my feet.

Then, I was kicked in the stomach with such force that I flew back into the wall, and I gagged blood onto the floorboards, striking what was a table. I've never felt that type of pain, being confused and afraid caused me to be off-guard and into a pit of danger. The man who had kicked me moved fast, faster than I've ever seen someone move sat on top of me and wrapped his big, meaty, sweaty hands around my neck, attempting to crush my windpipe.

I tried to scream. I tried to sit up, to scratch at his face. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe. My vision started to cloud up with a scary darkness, as a fiery feeling began to spread itself across my chest.

"Ahug...uuhh..."

"Don't speak." The man said in a hollow, rusted whisky voice, his blond fringe had become a mess. "It will only make killing you harder."

Out of nowhere, I heard him screaming, something wet landing on my face that wasn't blood, it seriously looked like saliva. Al, who had been quiet throughout had leaped to my rescue, biting the man's ear, blood pouring out of the wound. _"Take your own words to heart, fucking asshole!" _

As his hand released their viper grip, I struggled to breathe in air. I felt my hand reach back, tapping, fingering something hard and with my strength, I yelled out my raw, bitter fury, slamming the broken picture frame into the side of his face, as Al jumped to the ground, sickening blood covering his black coat.

He turned into a sloppy mess by the time I reacted to the amount of blood, to physically stop myself, grabbing my own shaking fist, from beating him into an even more unidentifiable pulp. My voice started to spill involuntarily out, whimpering meaningless, thoughtless words, crying out. "_Oh god. I just killed a man."_

I dropped the frame, feeling the bones in my legs shaking.

I _wanted_ to scream now. So badly I wanted to run.

"Oh god." I whispered, stepping over of the man, who laid face (or what was left of his face) down. For a moment, I could have sworn that one of this fingers twitched.

"_Phillipa." __  
_

_Oh please god. No, no, please, no, no._

I had spotted what Allemande had gestured to.

It wasn't an object.

It had seeped out from under the white door of the bathroom, forming a puddle of red, that was deep and dark. My throat struggled to spill out words anymore. I didn't have control over my voice, neither my tears that bleached my blood-soaked blouse that mother worked furiously on to get the stains out of it. It was beyond repair, and I didn't want to feel someone else's blood on my hands, staining them with guilt.

My stomach lurched.

_No, no, no..._

Something was telling me not to open the door, but I couldn't. It was like a breastfeeding mother in public; you have to look away, but then again, you can't just ignore it.

I don't remember reaching for the doorknob.

I may have turned it.

_No...no..._

Or maybe I opened the door with my foot, nudging it lightly, balancing on the other.

But I do remember seeing mother, naked and dead on the ground, with a dark red circle on her forehead.

It was then, that I screamed quietly, falling to my knees, the weight of my body almost too much for me to carry. My feet were stinging and I felt a headache coming on from all of this crying. Time must have passed, because I felt the nudge of Al's furry face against me, his voice sounding distant. The same blue duffel bag that I had brought my broken dreams in was by my side again, somehow appearing, as if it knew that we were going again.

"_We have to go." _Al urged, pulling my skirt with his out. "_Knowing people like these, they probably have back up contacts as well, waiting for them to report back to them. They'll probably be suspicious already, so it's vital that we leave NOW."_

"_But I can't leave her here..." _I whispered, still holding her cold, blue-tinged hand. My eyes were still wet. I didn't want to believe that she was _dead._ Mason and I were the ones she loved. How was I going to tell him. Oh_ God._ Why do I keep saying that? Do I even believe in him?

_"They'll be going after Mason." _He whispered back, urging me to get up. "_He's your top priority."_

I found myself trudging into my own room, mindlessly changing into new, _clean _clothes and reaching the bottom of the stairs, the ones that connected to the attic. The stopped a few feet from the man who tried to strangle me, shards of glass in and around his head.

I took the picture out of the frame-turned-deadly-weapon and neatly stored it away in a side pocket. It was of the three of us, and after a certain amount of urging on my part, I'd managed to squeeze all of us into the photo. Mothers blonde hair and Masons brilliant blue eyes, I must have been twelve at the time. Then, going through mothers purse, which was on the coffee table in the lounge, I grabbed her keys and left this house, just as I did with the other one, purposely leaving everything on, the heater, the over, electrical appliances and even the TV, set to the music channel with a girl playing a guitar.

Then, I found myself in the car, minutes later, driving towards Masons school.

_"What do I do now?"_ I wondered a thought that was barely above a whisper. "_Will there be more of them?" _

"_Of course there will be."_

_"_Then what do I do?" I asked, louder this time, sobs finally breaking out, my realization that my brother and I were all alone. We had no family to turn to. I didn't have _connections. _I felt hopeless."What _can_ I do?"

"_We're going to find your father, that's what we will do." _

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

***Looks around inconspicuously***

**Hello first timers and re-readers! This probably is another story in its own, but this is a second attempt at a story that I felt that I wasn't particularly considering the way Phillipa acted and how it was progressing. It's a bit darker this time around too, so I hope you don't mind. And there will be people who like the old story and those who'll like the new one, and I respect that. (P.S- If you want to go read it, feel free. But you'll have to find it yourself.)**

**I've had a good think about it this time around. ANd I'm happy that I'm writing for you guys.**** Writing is one of my favorite creative past-times.**

**-Verdigurl.**


	2. It hurts alot

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 2: It hurts a lot.**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to : Pour Me- Hollywood Undead]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

_"What do I do now?" I wondered a thought that was barely above a whisper. "Will there be more of them?"_

_"Of course there will be."_

_"Then what do I do?" I asked, louder this time, sobs finally breaking out, my realization that my brother and I were all alone. We had no family to turn to. I didn't have connections. I felt hopeless."What can I do?"_

_"We're going to find your father, that's what we will do."_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

"W-What?" I blurted out, my eyes darting continuously from the road, to Al, (who was sitting in the passenger sear), the back to the road.) We had made it past the shops, where mothers were doing their shopping before they picked up their kids.

My gut dropped several stories, realizing that I had unconsciously thought of my own mother. She always did that before picking up Mason.

The grip that I had on the steering wheel tightened, and I pulled back on the accelerator, passing a car. "Don't be silly Al. Mother never talked about him, or what he looked like, so I wouldn't know where to start."

_He was a dead-end anyway. Who would want to help me?_

"Your mother was blond, so you must have gotten your hair from him."

I didn't answer that comment.

"What about those pages of paper that you stole from your mothers office?" He asked, his head angling at the duffel bag that was sitting on the back seat. "What information do they give?"

"They're mainly addresses, photos of random people, and reports. But they're all in Italian which I can understand a little bit of, but not enough to understand what they were about." I replied. "What's that got to do with the problem?"

He shook his head. "Nothing at the moment."

I sniffed. "How about I just pick up Mason, get the hell out of here so the police wont follow me, and then I can think properly about this? Deal?"

"Deal?" He replied with another nod. "But I suggest you change your clothes first and clean up. I doubt that he would react well if he saw the blood on your shirt and face."

I looked down, gasping. I'd forgotten about that.

Once I had changed and washed my face with what little water I had already, making sure no specks were visible and pulled up at the schools parking lot, putting the car in park. I then folded my arms and leaned back in the seat, my face scrunching up.

"Don't let him see you like that love." Al said quickly, moving to the foot-space behind the passenger seat. "He's coming."

I gasped, jerking up straight, wiping down my face.

The door opened wide, and a smiling face poked through. "Hey Mo-, what?! Phillipa, what are you doing, driving!" He leaned in close. "Does Mom know that you stole the car again?"

I whacked him on the head. "I didn't steal the car, stupid! Mom was just too busy to pick you up today, that's all!"

"Kya!" He held his head, throwing his bag over the seat. "Whatever!"

"Shush!" I yelled as he closed the door. I reversed out of the car park and managed to get back onto the freeway without crashing into any other cars, which by the way, is quite an achievement for a destructive-loving girl like me.

"Phillipa?" He asked, noticing we were going the wrong way. His eyebrows merged together. "Have you been _crying?!_"

"Don't be stupid, stupid. I haven't been crying. I'm just driving you."

"Where? Aren't we going home?"

I licked my lips. It took so much in me for my voice not to crack. "No."

"No?!" He repeated. "Are we getting ice-cream?"

"That's all you ever think about, yeah?" I smiled, sighing. "No, we ain't getting ice-cream either."

"Eh? Then where? You ain't kidnapping me, are you?"

My eyebrow raised at his absurd suggestion. Sure, it possibly could come under that word, but technically it isn't either. "No, I'm taking you to your Dad's house."

His face lit up when he heard me say _your Dad's house. _It hadn't been scare, unknown, or lost knowledge that we had different fathers. I knew it well, and Mason did too. I even remember the first time I met the bastard. It was a typical meeting.

I hide behind Moms legs.

Stranger appears.

Mom introduces him.

She then says that she's pregnant with his baby.

Then I may have kicked him.

Hard.

Mason laughs and smiles every time I tell him that story. He's probably only seen the man no more than seven times in his entire life, due to us moving and Mom having a bad relationship with him. He had tried to contact us. Last I heard, he was last living in Delano, in California. That was an _eleven hour_ drive away from here, Albany in Oregon.

I can't even remember his fucking god-damn name.

"You mean it Sissy?" He asked excitedly, almost jumping out of his seat. "Are we really going to visit Alex's house?"

"Yeah," I replied with a smile, one that was forced. "We'll get dinner on the way. How does McD's sound?"

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

That day was very, _very_ long. It was somewhere between a miracle or complete idiocy on the law enforcement's part, that I didn't get pulled over for not owning a license. Not even a learners. I haven't even passed a theory test, but I paid attention to when Mother was driving, so most of my skills were picked up from her. (Note that she was a pretty good driver. Wasn't a _responsible one_, but she knew not to doing idiotic things while driving.)

After about six hours, when Mason was fast asleep and his head resting on the window, I decided to take a break. This was probably around nine or ten at night, and the car still smelled faintly of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets. I even still had half a cup of Coke-Cola left over, along with Mason's sprite, which was two-thirds full. Mind you, I did order a large combo for both of us, since I didn't want to run the risk of being spotted, or something like that. I didn't want Mason to get too involved in what was Mother's mess.

"Out like a light." I muttered, pulling over to the side of the road, in a street that was packed with cars. "I wish I could be as carefree."

I saw a couple of houses that had their lights on, so I decided to 'pitch up the tent', or in this case, putting the car in park and turning the engine off, giving my ears a break. Finally, after hours of hearing constant, loud noises like a rumbling engine of the car, or gut wrenching screams, gun shots. But all I could hear right now, was the high-pitched silence of the night and the happy laughter of university students, probably hanging out with their friends, coming back from a party where everybody is enjoying themselves and nobody is left out.

That night, I cried myself to sleep.

I have never felt so alone.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to the feeling of someone being poked in the face, in the cheek, in-fact.

"Phillipa! Wake up, it's eight-thirty!"

I groaned and rubbed my face, feeling the coldness of my hand. It felt relieving. "...mmm'kay...m'up..."

Mason leaned back in the passenger seat, his face tinged with concern. "Are you sure Mom told you this was okay? Wouldn't she have checked up on us?"

"Don't fret Mason." I said quickly, rubbing my eyes and cracking my fingers afterwards. I then turned the engine on and drove right on out of there, fearing that I would hear sirens, that they would be coming for us. Or the people in black. I didn't want to run into them either. "My phone ran out of battery shortly after you fell asleep, so when we get to Alex's house, I'll find a phone, okay?"

He paused. "It's Tuesday. Mom wouldn't let us off school, remember?"

I t'ched. "Look Mason. I don't like missing out on school either, but Mom _promised me_ that I'd get tickets to the next BamBurDam concert, that's playing in Nevada if I drove you here myself, since she had meetings up to her neck." In an attempt to simmer my temper and covering my lies, I sighed, pulling onto the freeway, a sign saying _Safe travelling from the Modesto community!_ passed, quickly becoming a distant figment of my memory. "Just be lucky I'm even taking you."

"Hey, that's _mean! _You're such a b-"

"Don't you _dare _finish that word!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"_Finally! Action!" _Al piped up, and I shot him a murderous look, that clearly said _'back the fuck up out of this argument buddy'._

"Yes! I mean it you little twerp!"

He poked out his tongue. "What are you going to do about it?"

On the outside, he thought he won. When actually, I _really _didn't want to say what I had thought.

_Cause when I'm done beating you, you're gonna wish your father pulled out early, the fucker._

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

We reached the outskirts of Delano around five pm, just as the sky turned into a golden-yellow hue. It was considered, in my head, to be a pretty large area. I'd heard that there were two prisons located here, and when I drove into the main city center, I started to worry about Mason.

"That street!" Mason grinned, pointing to a green sign.

I nodded a reply, and turned. He seemed oblivious of my mood.

"_It was bound to happen anyway." _Al said sadly. _  
_

We found the house eventually. My brother's way of communicating with me now has changed to yelling. "THERE!"

"I CAN FUCKING SEE! YOU DON'T NEED TO YELL!"

All he did was smile back, and I blushed, giving back a smile. I parked the car a few houses down, seeing that there was a car in the man's driveway. I locked the doors before he got the chance to reach for the door-handle and reached for the duffel bag. "Hold your horses cowboy, I have something for you."

"What?" He asked. "A hug?"

"Don't be a smart-ass." I said, pulling his present out. "You'll get one soon."

I handed my gift to him, and when he took it, realizing what it was, he looked back up, his mouth hanging open. "Mom _loves_ this picture. How come you have it? Does she know?"

"I was the one that took it, so it was mine to begin with." I replied, not answering his questions. "And now, it's yours. Please hang on to it."

"Phillipa, what's going on?"

"Come on." I said, motioning with my head towards the house. "Let's go see if he's home. Put the photo somewhere safe, in your schoolbag. Bring that too."

We both hopped out and I locked the car behind me, leaving Al inside. He said he didn't want to go outside today.

Just as we passed through the gates, Mason ran forward, but I grabbed his hand.

"Stay behind me." I pleaded.

"Okay." He said, although, I could tell he was getting more confused by the minute.

Gulping the lump that was stuck in my throat, blocking my voice, I pressed the doorbell and stepped back, my heart beating hard against my chest. I thought I could have possibly fainted right there. My stomach growled.

Then, suddenly, the white door opened, and out stepped a stern, serious looking man who I _knew_ wasn't Mason's father. Mason squeezed my hand, quietly squeaking at the _largeness_ of this man. He had jet black hair similar to mine, and dark skin, with piercing, honey-brown eyes. His bulkiness made my stomach flutter with nervousness.

He was the first to speak, in a deep voice. "Piss off."

"Please." I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "Is Alex here? It's of the up-most importance that I speak to him."

"No."

"B-"

"_I said, piss of bitch!"_

"_Listen to me, will you?!"_

He stepped forward, and I took one step back, my heart thudding. "That's it! I'm going to fucking cut yo-"

"That's enough." Said the owner of the hand that stopped the bulky man, by pulling him back into the house. "Can I h-, heck! _Phillipa_!"

"Dad!" Mason yelled and he let go of my hand, running past me and into the arms of his father, whose eyes were wide open with surprise.

"Hey buddy." He said, smiling brightly, hugging him back.

I couldn't control my frown, and my hands scrunched. My heart was stuffing up with emotion. I barely was managing to speak. "_...please..._"

Alec stepped out of the house and walked up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. "What's the matter?" He looked around. "Please tell me your mother isn't here."

"No." I whispered, my bottom lip wobbling.

"Hey, hey...don't c-"

"_Please look after him with care_!" I said abruptly, my tears finally breaking free, streaming down my face to stain my shirt. I didn't want Mason to see me like this. I felt so hopeless. "H-He likes to watch the stock-car races, and he likes to keep the crust on his bread. Make sure y-you give him help with his h-home-, *hiccup*, -work a-and..."

"_Did something happen?" _He whispered, locking his eyes with mine.

I nodded. He knew something, I knew, but I also knew that he'd treat Mason with kindness and love. "He's yours now. Make sure y-you do those things." I stepped back and he let go. "I-I'm going to say goodbye not, and after I do, you will not see me again. _Ever." _I walked around him, whispering in his ear. "Do not come looking for me."

"What are you talking about Phillipa?" Mason asked, with his big blue eyes, and my tears increased as I knelt down, holding out my arms towards him. I felt light-headed, and my throat was dry, so my voice was croaking. "_Sissy?" _

"_Come here." _I whispered. _"Come to me..."_

He embraced my arms and I cried, stroking his hair, apologizing over and over again. He pulled back and put his forehead on mine. "Is this why you were crying yesterday?"

"It's one of the reasons." I said quietly, chuckling. "Be good now. Don't cause trouble. Stay safe. If you get lonely, look at that picture."

_"I love you sister."_ He said, crying tears of his own. "_Please don't leave me here alone."_

_"This time, I don't have a choice love._" I stood and wiped my tears away, breathing in a gigantic breath, one that burned my lungs. "I'll be off now."

Alex was frowning too. "Wait a moment."

"What is it?" I asked. "I don't have a lot of time."

"Take that one." He said, pointing to the red Chevy that was sitting on the road, adjacent to the house. "That's Greg's car, but you can take it. It's likely that they would be tracking the car too." He smiled and threw a pair of keys at me. "Don't worry, we'll take care of the old car."

_What? How does he even know about those men?!_

"Hurry." He urged. "Mason will be safe here. If they come around here, I'll take them out. Now _go."_

_"I'll go to the car to get my stuff, and then I'll leave for good._" I whispered, giving him a mock bow. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye Phillipa."

Mason had to be held down as I left, screaming.

I'm the _worst._

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I spent the next two days driving Al and me to San Jose, which was located near the coast of California. I managed to convince a motel owner to rent me a room with a fake drivers I.D that had my photo on it in Mother's car. (There was other stuff in the car too, so I transferred a lot of stuff to the other car.) By the I.D, I was technically nineteen. It was old enough for me to drive, and buy alcohol, not that I would. But hey, it added four years to my actual age, so I couldn't really complain.

After locking the door and taking a long, hot and sorely needed shower, I lay on the bed, staring up at the roof, still thinking of Mason, hoping that he would sleep tonight. Al was nudging the laptop towards my side. "I think you should start looking."

"What, I don't get any sleep now?"

"Death waits for no human."

"Fair enough." I muttered, sitting up and turning the on button. While waiting for it to start-up, I pulled the tattered files and lay them out on the bed. "Hm..."

I picked up the paper that looked like the report and put it next to me as I lay on the bed, with my back on the headboard. I whizzed through the page and opened Foogle Chrome.

"Guess I'll just have to Foogle till I find something."

But after a while, nothing turned up. Most of the site I found were blocked, had useless information, or had none at all, like someone had purposely wiped all of the data, to do with this, of the face of the earth. It was most likely that actually was the case.

Al woke up from his cat nap, finding a frustrated me. "Why don't you just search it up in your birthday suit? I'm sure the computer wouldn't mind~"

"Shut up, pervert." I said, snapping at the cat with his _hobby._ It didn't surprise me in the least that he'd bring that up now, but I knew he was trying to cheer me up. "If you wanted a strip, you should have gone to the bar around the fricken corner."

"Aw, _Philliy-chan is angry at me!_"

I groaned, not seeing any sense to put up a fight with the talking cat. He padded to my side and shoved his ass down, leaning against my hips. "You know, she probably didn't feel anything when she died from an injury like that."

I really wanted to ignore him. "She was going to take a shower before she was shot. I'm guessing they attacked her when she was about to turn on the tap. Her clothes were folded and on top of the toilet seat."

"How do you know she usually does that?"

"She did when I was little. When we didn't have enough money, we'd share the shower, bed, so on and so on." I swallowed and leaned back. "I know she killed people for a living. It was easy to see, since I was the one that cleaned her leather jacket after a hit. She was like a fucking hit-man!"

"Did she work for the Mafia?"

I looked around. "I thought they were based in Italy...I don't even know, but I guess it's a possibility." I nodded curtly at the thought. "Anything is, at the moment."

I typed _Mafia_ in Foogle, hoping that at least something would turn up. What did was the definition off of Wikipedia:

"The **Mafia** (also known as _**Cosa Nostra**_, in English "Our Thing") is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "Cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighborhood (_borgata_) of a larger city. Its members call themselves "men of honour", although the public often refers to them as "mafiosi"."

(And it turned out that America did actually have the counterpart to the Italian mafia. I scoffed.)

"Gee, thanks Foogle, but this isn't what I wanted." I scrolled down further until coming across a rather odd website.

It was a website for a holiday resort off the coast of Italy named _Mafia Island._

"Holy s-" I reached for the paper, scanning it again, coming across the same word, that was written the same in english.

"Look at this!" I said to Al, jabbing the piece of paper. "This place _has something to_ do with Mom!"

"Well, the names a bit forewarning, so I guess you've hit the target."

"Then that's where I'm going to start."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I had cut off all of my personal ties.

I knew my brother was in good hands.

And secretly, I hoped that Mother had been found, so that she could get a good burial.

From now on, I can only walk forward into an invisible battlefield.

I should get ready.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**My procrastination is at it's highest, as usual. I was actually going to write another chapter for 'Mumei', but I got distracted by this. And I apologize for the line breaks. I am venting my frustration at them and they keep disappearing! T_T**

**~(*3*)~**

**And then you guys spoiled me! *Blushes and waves a hand***

**Thanks to the followers: Alice-italy-haruhi, Chubbybubs,Feldlerche, Flower Blossoms, FreeWierdGal, Jebli, Nanel107, RikiRenaH42, Shaka-Laka-BOOM-girl, Thrill-pair-all-the-way,alyssum123, glass shadow, shina15yuki98 and virklighetflukt.**

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**Viper's Girl: That is kind of hard to explain. I guess my main method is to get in their shoes, to put yourself in the mood that they're feeling. I'd say the Crime and Investigation channel helped out here, but I wouldn't say it was normal when I was thirteen to watch it with interest. (The channel was R+16 for the violence and graphic content.) Plus, I'm a closet horror buff. That helped too.**

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**-Verdigurl**


	3. I don't do well with kids

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 3: I don't do well with kids**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to : Ghost Opera - Kamelot ]**

**This chapter is for Viper's girl. Her love of Al astounds me still.**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

It was dark, and in the suburban, sprawling area of Florence, they came in to find the area in a blood-bath that covered everything it came in contact with, covering it with a ruby-red, staining. Bodies were strewn everywhere, lying on the ground, obviously dead.

And found in the chaos was a sandy-haired child, in a shirt that was two sizes too big, blood splattered everywhere on the child.

That night, the child was not killed, but taken away, to a place where you could classify at times as _'safe'_.

For the time-being.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

In the year that Al stayed at the house that we had before all of these problems, this utter mess happened, I learned a lot about the small black cat, who was a complete pervert and didn't care who knew about it. (Mind you, I was the only one that could understand him, so I guess that part of him was due to the isolation of talking and nobody understanding. He's like the cat from Alice in Wonderland sometimes, I swear.) He's always talking strangely, like in some sort of dialect that makes only sense to him, and even when he's not opening his mouth to speak, I always get that feeling that the gears in his head don't stop turning. He made me nervous, and at peace.

A right rubix cube this one was.

_"Phiiilllliiippppaaaaaaa..."_

I refused to turn around. Nope, I didn't want this. Didn't want to look at him, didn't want to even utter a fucking word to the little rat-with-fur.

He slicked around my leg, barely missing a splash of water from the mop. "_Come on dearie...let's play!"_

His whiny behavior was getting at me, nibbling at the edges of my nerves. "Shut up."

"_Whhhyyy?"_

"Because I'm trying to do some work, god damn it and if I talk to you out loud, I'm going to get called the fucking-crazy-cat-lady." I slammed the mop on the ground, causing some of the passing passengers to glance with concern. I apologized and returned talking to Al when they turned a corner, whispering."This was the only way I could get to Mafia Island. I spent nearly _two months_. working my ass of, trying to come up with something, and this was it. Nobody _forced _ you to come."

_"Says the girl who's trying to take on the Mafia."_

My eyebrow twitched. "Oi, I never said that. I know Mom was connected to them, but I have doubts whether or not they're involved."

_"You're kidding Phillipa? Of course they are. I'd be surprised to DEATH if they weren't."_ His kitty-tail twitched. _"I know you've been thinking of going after them as well as looking for your father."_

"I can handle it. I'm in control of my future, aren't I?" I wrung out the mop and cleaned the floor, making sure no excess water was left. Wouldn't want anyone slipping now, would I.

_"I doubted you imagine that you'd work as a janitor on a cruise liner when you were in high school."_

"Tais-toi, vous foutue merde rabique."

_"Aw, I love you too~"_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Nope, sorry, your ears didn't make a mistake. And trust me, it certainly wasn't my intention when the teachers handed out the careers choice list to put down 'janitor' as a viable option. I think I would do better in a day care center than dragging ass and wiping up spills from lazy customers who lounged out in the sun all day, drinking margaritas and gin. Rarely did they order bourbon The dark stuff will fuck you up, as I've already seen happen to a middle-aged man, who swung his arms wildly, shouting obscenities while passing families briskly walked around him, covering their children's ears. Eventually, the deck crew had to subdue him and put him in a bunker downstairs until he 'cooled off.'

In two days, it was predicted that we would reach Mafia Island. I plan to hop off there, instead of continuing the cruise.

I'm sure they won't miss me. The lazy bastards can clean up their own mess. They're worse than Mason.

My shift was from nine am till eleven pm, with two breaks in the middle. It was barely over nine o'clock, but with the wind chill, the guests had decided to migrate indoors to the ballroom, which left me to clean up the tanning deck and around the pool, which was located at the front of the boat. At the time, Al had decided that he should stop being a pervert and lie around, to wait for me to finish the shift. _Tonight, _I decided, thinking, _I shall sleep like a king!_

_"What are we going to eat?" _Al asked.

"Something edible, hopefully. Like food." I replied blatantly, just so I could piss him off. And it failed, just as the rest had before this poor little one. "It's probably going to be sausages and mash again."

He stopped rolling around on the ground, and lifted his head up in the air, sniffing quickly, his eyes closed, movement of his eyeballs evident, poking through the fur on his eyelids.

"What is it Al?" I asked, sort of whining. "I really don't want to stay out here more than I need to."

"_I smell...something in the pool!"_

_Oh god. Please tell me nobody shit in it. I reeeally don't want to deal with something like that._

"Good...or bad?"

He jumped up, landing on his paws in the same place. "Good good! Quick!"

He sped off without me, his slink body disappearing down the deck stairs.

I sighed and followed him, yelling "Wait the fuck up!"

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Each school had a rather similar, and at the same time different, way with dealing with students.

Some liked to talk their problems over in a group.

Others took their problems to the teachers, which from there connected to the Student Council along with the BOT. (Board of Trustees.)

As for my school, with the reputation it had, you had to either man up, grow up and shut up. Otherwise, bad things would occur _very _quickly in the most absurd manner you could think of.

It was called 'being creative.'

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Of course, this wasn't what I'd expected.

A poo, maybe.

A chocolate bar _disguised _as a piece of poo, probably.

But not an octopussy.

"What-the-legitimate-fuck." I said out loud, in a questioning voice that really wasn't directed at anybody. But to be fair, in this case, I could give a fuck since there was a giant octopus in the hot tub, singing its lungs out. Singing _his_ lungs out, I realized Surprisingly, he kept in tune, as much as he could with his 'french' accent. This was getting too weird.

"_Weeellcoome aalll tooo cuurtaiiin caaallll at ze oooopppeerraa~!"_ It sang loudly, as seemed to be giving itself a bath in the hot-tub, and I wondered if he was being cooked alive, or if the smell that I could smell now was coming from the buffet downstairs. "_Raaaaging voooices in my mind, riiise above zzeeee orchestra~!"_

"What the heck do I do Al?" My eyes kept darting between them. "Everybody will freak out if they find out!"

"Well, what do you think you should do? Walk away?"

"You're not helping, dumbass!"

"How about you talk to it." He suggested, as water from the in-built hot tub overflowed, reaching my feet. The octopus lifted up one of its tentacles and washed under, (I guess you could call it an armpit?). He bellowed louder, and I flinched, almost wanting to cover my ears. "You know, the basics. Start of with a first date, somewhere nice. Then yo-"

"I didn't just hear that."

"But by saying that, you just confirmed that you did."

I growled loudly and almost stamped my foot like a child throwing a tantrum, whereas my venting was out of frustration. "Fine! Just, _don't ever mention this. EVER._"

I could feel his smile on the back of my head as I tugged to the bathing animal. "Who to?!"

It seemed that at first, the octopus didn't notice me standing there, tapping my foot. So after a while, I got annoyed, and blatantly yelled out rather rudely. "HEY YOU!"

Yeah, that got his attention, because he turned, took one glance at me and laughed from his belly. My mouth fell open, and I looked at Al, thinking that I just got snubbed by an octopus.

"_Bonjourno, bella~" _It replied in the same song-singy tone.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"_I'm having a bath, obviously. What are you doing, talking to me? Aren't you thinking you've gone insane, being able to hear me talk?_"

I gestured to my face, as Al poked his tongue at the octopus. "Do I look like I'm freaking? Pulling out clumps of hair?" I shrugged. "I can understand Al here, so it isn't a big surprise."

"OI!"

That was a big, long yell that I didn't expect to hear, making me jump a little, and at the same time, Al cursed, he too not expecting any more people to appear on the deck at this time of night. I turned, and what I saw defiantly wasn't what I had expected. Could you imaging me now gawking? Because I certainly was, I can tell you.

"What are you doing, dummy!" The baby yelled, pointing right at me. He was a small child, possibly around the age of two, or maybe even three. He had a helmet that was purple and white with a dark green glass tinge on the part where he could see through. The emblem of an octopus, ironically, was drawn on the helmet. Combined with his suit, he was the perfect image for a stuntman's assistant. What killed it was the pacifier, but hey, kids like those, right?

Wait, where did a two-year old even learn to speak that well any way?

"Hang on." I said turning around. "Have to take care of some business."

___"Mushisuruna!"_

_"Pipe down, will ya, ya brat." _Al hissed, turning to face the child. Another thing I learned about Al was that he wasn't afraid of voicing his opinion, and because of that, I could only imagine the chaos a _human version _of Al would bring. Be you a girl, guy, Asian, avian or even a pickle. (He hated pickles, by the way.) He'd let you know how he felt about a situation. This was proven when we were watching the guests board the boat.

(_"Look! He's a weirdo!" and " That woman! She has somebody pulling __all those_ suitcases, I bet she bribes people with money just so that they can act to be her! _friends._")

"Come on, you two."

_"Quiet Phillipa, I'm a big boy, I can handle this._"

"Oi, girl! Tell your cat to back off!" The boy yelled, backing up. "H-He's getting closer!"

I sighed, and told Al to calm down, to which he replied several colourful words that I was very used to. (Since attending a co-ed school, it was basically a holy rule that at least five times a day you would hear someone cuss, be either a guy or dame. Never a teacher though, since they had an image to upkeep, but you could see that they obviously wanted to sometimes, at some of the students comments. I know I sure wanted to.)

"Don't worry kid. Whe-"

"_I'M NOT A KID!" _

"-re are your parents?"

"_Phillipa, PLEASE let me claw his eyes out?" _Al asked in an eager tone. "_Just a tiny bit? He has a helmet on, so it won't hurt! (Not that I'll be aiming there, mind you.)"_

"I told ya', I ain't a kid! I don't have any!"

_Oh, so he's one of those kids._

_"Fine, _I mean _guardians._" I shrugged and knelt down at his level. He seemed like a cute kid, and I didn't want to upset him. _"How come you're out here?" _I gestured to the dark orange octopus, who, by now, had gotten out of the hot tub and jumped over the edge, to god knows where, leaving a giant wet deck for me to clean up. Not that I will. I'll just say that it was the _high ocean tides _fault. "Is he with you? What's his name?"

The kid seemed to cheer up now that I had taken an interest in his _pet, _if you could classify it/him as that. "His name's Oodako! He's my pet and accomplice!"

I smiled. "So how come you're on this ship?"

He puffed up his chest, proud that I had asked. His ego was inflating by each question. "I'm the Head of the combat forces of the Carcassa Famiglia! Normally, we would take a private ship, me and my men!" He jabbed a finger in the air, and I nodded. "B-But we've had to cut costs lately...and to surprise Colonnello-senpai, we've decided to take this ship!" His voice became a rock of a sort, thick and hardy, as a two-year old's voice could go. I nodded. I was wondering who all those strange people were. But then, he pointed the finger at me, rather rudely and asked."So what's a gal like you working on a ship like this? Are you that _desperate?" _

My eyebrow twitched, and I whispered to Al. "_If you want blood, do it discreetly and where I can't see it." _And then, to the kid,"Watch your mouth. I'm just like you, a person that needed a ride to Mafia Island."

"Needed a ride?" He repeated. "Are you an illegal immigrant? You'll need papers!"

"I ain't. And I've got some. I'm staying here to collect information."

"What kind?"

"None of your business, you nosy little mouse." I picked him up, to which he started to protest, but I tucked him under my arm and started to head inside, thinking that his parents must be worrying about him. "Now, how about I get you to the buffet, where all your _men_ are?"

He grumbled a _fine _and crossed his arms in a cute way, refusing to look me in the face. I chuckled, and with Al following behind, I eventually located the dining room of the ship, where his parents probably would be. Drinking, I suspected.

I placed him down and smiled. "Now, don't get lost again, okay? Er..."

"Skull!"

_Skull. Good god, who the heck names their kid that? It's almost as bad as hashtag. No, actually, hashtag is the worst. Skull is a good name._

"Skull then. Bye!" I turned and waved goodbye, but he jumped, waving his hand in the air.

"W-Wait!" He yelled, stuttering. His voice sounded like it was corrupt with eager nervousness. "W-What was your name?! I didn't catch it!"

I didn't turn around, and Al kept following me. I was thankful for his silence.

"Good, because I didn't throw it."

As I turned the corner, my heart sadly pinched.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Two days later, we docked at the port of Mafia Island. And on this particular sunny day, I was glad to say that I was _very _happy to see dry land. Land, that didn't shake, or become wet at the splash of a wave. Except when it rained, but apart from that, I was tickled pink. And so was Al, after he regurgitated all of that canned tuna, and screamed _land ho! Yes! Thank the kitty gods!_

As soon as the crewmen began to let the passengers leave the boat, I went straight to the office to collect my final check, which made the total money that I had (that included the money I stole off of mother's debit card, my own savings and whatever cash I could find. I wasn't proud of myself to pickpocket random, perfectly normal people, so I limited myself. I only pick-pocketed _rarely.) _to 994 dollars and ninety cents. If I was careful, the money would last me for a while, and until then, I could focus my time and waking hours on finding my father, if I could call him that. I felt so alone and nervous that all the way here, my stomach was unsettled, even when I went to bed later that day.

The purple boy plagued my dreams that night, along with the octopus.

I didn't know it then, but it wasn't to be the last time I saw him.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

A young, blond man stood at the front of a desk, somewhere in Italy. It was night, and not a sound could be heard, except for the chirping of the cicadas and the voice of the hunched man sitting down in front of him, his hands clasped together, a broad smile apparent of his face. One, only used for display, though.

"Well done. I can now say with great happiness that you are now the leader of CEDEF, Sawada Iemitsu. I wish you well in the journey that awaits you."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Oh my geese. I'm sorry that this took a while to get out guys, but school has been a real 'thorn in my eye' at the moment, and with scholarship, I hardly have a lot of time to myself. *Dances* But hey, I can give up sleep. No biggie. :)**

**Again, thank you to all of the faves and favorites, whose names escape me at the moment, and your words of support, they really help me. I'll be honest, I'm human. I do get depressed and you reading this makes me feel happy.**

**Replies:**

**Thrill-pair-all-the-way: (I LOVE your username.) Here you go~! Thanks for reading.**

**Leolnuyuka: Aw, thank you. (I can't say I'm glad you exploded. But here's some glue to put yourself together. *Gives you glue*)**

**Virkelighetsflukt: (Was I right this time? Derp) Aha, silly me. I did kind of recognize it, but my brain still has trouble processing words. (Not that I learn Norwegian I learn Swedish.) Enjoy this chapter!**

**Alice-Italy-Haruhi: Thank you for your support. Much love.**

**Lifeisarayofsunshine:Hmm. I think I do, and she will, but that will come later. *Winks* I have _a lot_ of surprises to come. :)**

**Adoptedasian123: Whoops, I hope you weren't seen as insane! (Ha! My family would probably think that if that was me.)**

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**Alrighty, I'll see ya when I see ya!**

**-Verdigurl!**


	4. Everyday is a mystery

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain **

**Chapter 4: Everyday, I wake up, not knowing if I'll sleep tonight.**

******Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: Ponponpon- Nightcore]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

When I woke, I knew I was in trouble. Not the normal kind like 'Oh shit, I'm in trouble so I'll just hide away for a few hours or months until things settle down' type of trouble. I was in the 'Oh shit, I'm tied up and dangling in a dark and fucking scary place in the middle of God knows where' type of trouble.

But things wouldn't make sense here.

I'll step back for a while, since I have time to _kill_, back to when I was still back on Mafia Island.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I probably spent more time on the island working than I did trying to find information. It was a mafia island, after all so I had decided that it wouldn't be the best thing for me to dive head first into this new scenery, not knowing my way around and all. Apparently, at the time I had arrived, it had just flourished into tourist season for the island. Numbers of staff were short, and to make extra money, I decided upon a job.

But the only one I could afford to get was one where I was working as a maid in the main hotel on the island. It was a good choice in my head, because they provided board and food costs, including uniforms, cleaning materials etc. The pay was alright, but it was the best I could do under this pressure, Even though I had realized it was the start of a jam-packed tourist season, I forgot how _much work_ it was to change a bed, clean a bathroom, to smile like I was actually in a happy mood at the paying customers. Most of the time, my cheeks were sore at the end of the day.

During the day, Al usually helped me out by going out and venturing on his own, sniffing up and kind of info his eyes could gobble down. And I had learned some lessons as well.

Like don't leave your bag unattended. (Note, that I did get it back and kicked the guys ass, much to the amusement of a crying kid who's ice-cream had dropped off his cone. Suffice to say, I was alright with that, since dropping an ice-cream was a pretty big deal.)

Carry a first aid kit. (As if I don't already, but it helped me when the other maids hurt themselves. I could whip it out and patch them up so quickly that they nicknamed me Nancy Drew!)

Stuff a ten-dollar note in your sneaker.

And, as a rule for myself, to make sure that I don't ever lose them, I keep the papers that I found in my mother's study underneath the floorboards of my current room, underneath the makeshift bed. They had provided me with some good info that I had needed.

Firstly, it was basic knowledge that I knew my mother lived in Italy before she had immigrated to America. She must have been quite young and I don't know if she was pregnant with me at the time, but I knew that it had been a rushed process. In her car that I had 'borrowed' (I guess you couldn't call it stealing if she was already dead. It would have gone to me anyway. She knew I liked it also.) in the glove-compartment, there were several passports used, along with papers in the back of years old plane tickets and dockets. It made me shook my head in sadness that she kept them, why wouldn't she have burned them instead?

Again and again, in my free time when I wasn't washing bed-sheets, I grazed through the bits of paper and laid out what was left of the pictures. Some were poorly damaged with burn marks around the sides, pen written, scribbled across them, X's on the faces of the silhouettes of people.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what my mother did for a job. But it wasn't right then that I figured it out. I had that pinned down ages ago, when mother came home late at night and plonked herself on the couch, dead tired.

Mind you, it wasn't her that was wiping bits of blood and brain residue off of her leather jacket.

I liked looking at them when I was supposed to be sleeping. There was one of my mother, who looked around seventeen, taking a selfie while at the beach, the sun shining brightly behind her, her golden hair flying in the wind. And there was another one of a woman with sitting in a cafe, drinking a cup of what was probably coffee. I had no idea who she was, but I liked the hat she wore and the vacant expression on her face as she checked her phone, presumably scrolling through her endless messages. My favorite was another one of my mother, who was dressed in a lilac sundress, and a smile planted on her face, her head cocked to the side. It was a smile that I had only ever seen on Sunday mornings, when she had just woken up, so that her hair was still untamed. She would gaze out the kitchen window idly, her eyes crinkled up at the edges. I liked it because the colour of the dress contrasted with the vivid orange that a man wore, a guy that was holding her by the waist. I cursed several times because of the decaying edge that erased the top half of this man. They looked like bite-marks that had attacked the edges, so I assumed that a caterpillar of some sort.

It was only two days after the third week I had stayed there that I had noticed the floating balloons of small figurines. It hit me then, the orange dress-shirt.

It wasn't till I asked the receptionist who that man was that my gut dropped, and a tingling feeling started in my toes

I knew it then that whoever that balloon was modeled off of had something to do with my mother.

And that wasn't the only surprise that had flailed itself at me while I stayed there.

"Where should we go now Al?" I asked on my day off. It was a nice sunshiny day, and I wore a simple t-shirt and black shorts. "There's not much we can do here."

He looked up with those big, beautiful eyes, and his tongue hanged out. "_Why don't you go buy a shot of brandy?_" He suggested. "_Have a drink and think things over."_

I snorted a laugh. "Brandy? No thanks, but I think I'll settle for a strawberry smoothie instead."

And that's what I did.

Nothing happened while I drank it, but it was rather when I turned to throw the plastic cup away that I spat out what little smoothie was in my mouth, gawking at the sight in the sea.

It was that bloody octopus again, taking another bath. How clean did it need to be if it swam in the sea _all the time?_

"Oh..."

The octopus caused the patrons that were lying on the beach to get up and scream their heads of, running for dear life. They scooped up their children and in a flurry of cries, the beach was cleared in a matter of minutes. I sighed, as the octopus spotted me and started to wave. "_Oh, it's you~! Hello m'dear! We've been waiting for you~"_

"Does it even occur to you that people might want to swim here?" I asked it, as I walked to the water's edge. "Why didn't you just go to an uninhibited part of the island?"

"KORA!"

I flicked my head to the left, looking over my shoulder, to where that _very _loud voice had been. I swore, seeing that a _child_ was being carried by a large gull, with a long , green rifle in his hands.

No fair, that looks awesome!

"_Better get out of the way love."_

_Bang!_

I swore and ran to the side as the blond-haired kid shot at the octopus, who screeched loudly. I swore again as the purple clothed kid appeared in front of me again. "You littl-, oi! What the heck's going on?!"

"Get out of the way kid!" He yelled.

"No!"

_Bang!_

With amazing strength, he pushed me away as another shot fired in the place where we stood, making a huge crater.

_Bang!_

I flinched as the gun kept firing, bullets deflecting.

_Bang!_

_"_KORA, get back here!"

"Waaahh!"

_Bang!_

Unconsciously, my mind flinched back, and I saw _that old_ gun in my own hands.

My mother naked on the floor.

Hearing Mason.

Oh god.

_Bang!_

"**ENOUGH**." I said, throwing my foot on the ground. "**YOU SHOULDN'T FIGHT.**"

I felt the fire in my throat. It sweltered and immediately became dry, the mucus becoming thick and sparse, making me gulp. I saw flashes of blue and purple, but in a moment's time, they merged together, mixing, swirling into a think, glowing wall that separated the two. The colour mixed with a pale grey that lashed out at the two children, small, hollow like mouths sucking up those two colours, purple from Skull and Blue from the other baby.

_"Phillipa!" _Al yelled out in concern, dodging a flying mouth.

My head felt extremely hot, and when I wiped the sweat off and retracted my hand, I found it engulfed in the same grey flame. I almost screeched or even screamed, if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't feel any pain. It wasn't painful at all, but rather warm, tickling the palms of my hands, turning my cheeks red.

I ee'ped as I looked up. The two had stopped fighting, and the blond one was advancing towards me quickly. He grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"Oi, Kora! Who sent you!"

I closed my eyes and batted his hand away, stumbling till I fell back on my butt. "EEEEEPPP!"

"Answer me!"

I shook my head several times. "I-I..."

"_Can it pipsqueak, I'm gonna kill you and you puny fucking falcon!"_

"Leave her alone, dummy!" The helmet kid yelled, shaking a fist.

"Stay out of this maggot!" He snapped back. He pointed at me, eyebrows bunched together. "Speak up, maggot! What's a Marchelli like you alive?!"

"P-Pardon?"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

"MY NAME IS FUCKING PHILLIPA MARSH, NOT MARCHELLI!"

He pointed at the barrier. And just as it had magically appeared, it started to fade as the flame on my forehead disappeared, floating away. "You set up a _fucking barrier of will that's_ _grey_." He pointed at it, just as it faded away. "So don't tell me _'I'm not a Marchelli.'_ What are you doing here?!"

I clapped my hands over my ears. "I-I don't know what you're t-talking about..." I looked at my feet. I flinched as he got more agitated. "I-I'm just her..." _No, _my mind said, or rather it was the voice of my mother, forcing my throat to close up. I could imagine her looking straight at me. in the eyes, jabbing a painted red nail in my chest. _Don't go blabbing your mouth! That'll be the end of ya, and I don't want that! You lot are special to me, ya hear!_

Damn, I'd already blurted out my own name!

I slapped my hand on my mouth and shook my head thoroughly. I don't know why, but these kids were freaking me out; my heart beat thumped so much.

"..."

"She's just a weirdo!" Skull yelled, trying to divert the blond child's deadly gaze. "She's a nobody!"

_"Oh that is it!" _Al yelled, lunging at the miniature stuntman, his claws and fangs out, ready to bite the shit out of him. "_I'm going to fucking flambe this idiot and his stupid octopus chum as well!"_

"_Hey~!_" The octopus said, hurt and slightly offended at his comment. _"I am most certainly not stupid, you silly little land-walker!" _

Unsteadily and unsure of the situation, I tried to smile, but it more or less turned out to be a sad frown. "C-Come on Al, don't do that..." I said, trying to calm down this awkward situation. "I'm sure skull and his octopus sparky here are pleasant. There's no need to-"

"_Oi, my name's not sparky! It's Oodako!" _

"KORA!"

"HOLY SHIT, DID YOU JUST COMPLIME-"

"...yell." I muttered, staring at my feet. I sighed, as a surprising silence fell over the group.

The blond-haired baby let go of my t-shirt, and gave me a once-over, and I felt self-conscious when I did, feeling a ominous feeling.

"Don't think that." I said quickly, getting up. "I-I swear I'm not a spy o-or anything rude like that! I-I ..."

He clicked his tongue and held out an open palm. "Colonnello, maggot."

"Eh?"

"'S my name, Kora! You said yours, so I'm saying mine."

"Oh..." I put my hands down.

He leaned in closer, and I could swear the air temperature dropped. "Now, tell me why you are _really _here, Kora."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Confused.

This is the word that could muster up, to describe this rather _odd_ experience. Since this situation had gotten beyond weird very early on, (I can honestly say that it _had_ started with Allemande because he has been the 'thorn-in-my-eye' for the past, almost two, years. And I still put up with him.), I had just stopped myself getting surprised anymore and took them as they came. A very hard job I tell you.

But while I was re-cooperating in my 'new' room that Colonnello had supplied me with, Skull explained to me about the Arcobaleno. (I was forced to quit my job as a maid and had to start training with Colonnello after I told him I was searching for this man named 'Reborn', the holder of the sun pacifier. It's an odd name, I will admit, but hey, I'm not in a position to judge people at the moment. Maybe one day when I'm married and watching my children frolic in a garden. Ha, that will never happen.)

They were adults before they became babies, I was told. They had a curse thrown upon them, like in the story of '_The Princess and The Frog.'_ Seven of the world's strongest, turned into infants by a little curse, forced to wear coloured pacifiers, unknown if they would ever get back to their original forms.

It made feel a pang of sadness. They must feel so helpless sometimes.

Then, when I was alone one night, around three weeks into the training, Al gave me a brief on the Mafia world, from the families that were at the tip-top of the mafia-totem-pole, to the flame types used. He said that there were seven basic ones, and I asked why mine was grey.

He then told me what my mother couldn't. That I had been born into a world of strife, where nobody was safe, _ever._ It was then that I realized the significance of that strange barrier that had appeared. It was a skill my family inherited, that they were _famous_ for. From what I could gather from Colonnello's ramblings and Al's midnight speeches, they were a feared family. And they were killed for it too.

That night, I cried myself to sleep once again, quietly humming '_Happy Birthday'_ to myself.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I took a phrase that Colonnello had coughed at me indiscreetly while dropping a random piece of paper with his rough handwriting, running away, close to my heart and since it literally haunted my dreams each night, I left for Italy a further month later.

"_Best to start where you started."_

I arrived in Florence in the middle of lunch. For two weeks, I spent my time searching around for the address that was hastily scribbled on the piece of paper that Colonnello had dropped.

And when I did find it, Al said. "_That's not right."_

"What isn't?" I asked, dodging the masses of locals and tourists that were bustling to get to places where they needed to be.

"_It says Vongola construction, but the Vongola are a very top Mafia family."_

"Then it's probably a mask to wear, in that sense. Why would they do that?"

_"Obviously to hide themselves from the public eye. Although I do have my doubts."_

I nodded. "Vongola, huh..."

I blacked out before I even knew I had lost consciousness.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

And here I am now, with thick metal handcuffs chained around my wrists, and me, dangling from one of those hooks that are used to hoist up heavy machinery. My feet throbbed and in this darkness that shrouded my eyes, I could see only the concrete ground beneath my dangling feet and that was it. The darkness was consuming and it almost made me claustrophobic.

I could feel the tang of iron in the back of my throat.

"Al?" I called out, my voice dim and croaky, like a frog.

No reply.

I swore and hung my head down, cringing as the handcuffs chapped against my wrists.

I was alone again.

Shit.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Honestly, I don't have much to say today after babysitting a non-screaming one and a half-year old that didn't even realize her parents had gone out to dinner. Consider me impressed.**

**Again, I apologize for the line breaks disappearing. I just *Moans* They're god-damn annoying!**

**Thank you to all the readers, followers, faves and general 'invisible readers'. *Points at _YOU*_ YES! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!**

**Replies:**

**Thrill-a-pair-all-the-way: *Takes them* AH NOM NOM NOM NOM *MUMBLES WITH COOKIES IN MY MOUTH* THANK YOU! HOW'D YOU KNOW THEY'RE MY FAVE? ;)**

**Leolnuyuka: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Viper's girl: Hm, that is kind of strange daydream you had there. *Imagines it now* I can only imagine him with a whip! *Snorts with laughter* Ah, yeah. He will. Thanks for always reading!**

**And now, off to bed I go~**

**-Verdigurl**


	5. In and Out

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 5: In and out**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: Give Me A Sign - Breaking Benjamin Cover - Gavinmichail**

**Miracle Orange - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Crusted eyes split slowly, after hearing the sickly sweet sound of birds chirping, probably stretching out their thin wings, and with a blocked nose that caused my ears to be blocked slightly, I sniffed, barely able to swallow. My lips were chapped and cracked, gone without a sip water for what seemed like a while. I was still hanging by my hands, which I couldn't feel at all due to having them above my head, causing my circulation to shut off. I could feel the thumping rhythm of my heartbeat in my toes. Sniffing again to get rid of what was in my nose, I cracked my neck and struggled to breathe out calmly because I was still encased in a mentally claustrophobic, thickening darkness, that I could assume was artificial, since I could hear the birds. That meant that I may be in a basement of some sort, or at least, in an enclosed building.

The chained hook that was attached to the ceiling by a pulley system started to sway slightly as I looked around at my surroundings, of what I could make of them. About two meters away from my dangling legs, there seemed to be a table of a sort, possibly one of those medical tables, with what little light shined off it. I couldn't make out anything on or beyond it, but from the rotting smell of a meat-like stench (it smelt like a rich meat, like a silver-side.) and the slowly increasing crimson on the tile floors, it wasn't hard to judge on what it was. It was hard not to gag, but I managed to keep whatever what was in my stomach from spilling out of my mouth.

I gasped at the sight of it, kicking my legs, which caused my body to sway, the red rashes on the sides of my wrists from the handcuffs itching even more. My skin had become paper-thin, so that in a moment, it could rip and spill blood. Worst part of it all is that I wouldn't notice it at all until the blood had trickled down my upheld arms.

I blinked, swallowing again, coughing. "...Alle...?"

My only reply was a moving sound to the left of my shoulder, behind my and it sounded like something wooden, like a broom had fallen onto the floor, and a mouse quickly scuttled to the other side of the room. I shrieked quietly, causing my body to sway erratically. When the momentum of the scare slowed down, I sighed, thinking about how the heck I got myself into this situation. I bet this wouldn't have happened if I had stayed at home like a good little teenager. No, if I had stayed at home, I'd be a dead one. And that wouldn't make things better, only deader.

"Che non è il mio nome."

My heart almost jumped straight out of my chest and this time, I swore loudly and flinched, not expecting to hear a person's voice in here along with me. For a moment, I might have sworn it was that rotting body on the nearby table, but it wasn't. It came from behind me and unlike the nude female, if you could recognize her as that anymore, she certainly sounded alive enough. Maybe somewhere in her twenties or thirties.

"Potete gru indietro la testa abbastanza?

What? Potete, can and testa, skull? Was she asking me to turn my head?

"Uh..." I tried to translate what I wanted to say, the best I could. (Mind you, my Italian wasn't the best it could be. I'm a pathetic part italian.) "M-Mi dispiace," I licked my bottom lip. " M-Ma ques-sto è quanto p-posso girare senza ferire m-me stesso ogni ulterio-ore."

I shook my head, somewhat disgraced at my pronunciation skills. My Mother would have covered her eyes and slumped in her chair if she had seen me in this predicament, red in the face with embarrassment.

Despite the grim settings, I heard her chuckle, which only made my spirit sink further into depression.

"Do you speak English?" She asked, with a mild lisp from her accent dancing on her 's'.

"Y-Yeah..." I answered. I wanted to say that I understood Italian too and some other languages to a point, but my voice gave out quickly.

"Can you get yourself off that chain?"

I tilted my head, seeing the roof beyond the giant hoof that was unfocused in my line of vision. It didn't help that I couldn't feel my hands, or even most of my arms for that matter, but I couldn't see how I could do that. There was a latch blocking the top of the hook, so there was no way I could _jump _over it.

"...no" I called back.

I heard a clinking sound. "Why don't you just hang off of the safety latch?"

"What?"

"Grab on to it." She repeated and by the tone of her voice, I could imagine her pointing a finger. "And use your weight to pull it down."

"Bu-"

That was as far as I got, speaking directly to the woman, whoever she was, because at that moment, a door that I hadn't seen before swung open, and a man with a masked face began to whip my back, until the point where I blacked out.

And in my mind, I was still asking myself about Al.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

The room was spinning.

"Oh shit..." I muttered, regaining consciousness and still hanging like a squid on a clothes-line. My heart was thumping, as I felt my pulse in my head, and it felt like a stake had been rammed through it with a murderous intent. "Ngghhh..."

I coughed and turned my head to the most absolute point and asked. "Ngg...a-are you still there?"

I got no reply, which dampened my soul even more, thinking that I must have the most unfortunate luck to ever get. The pulse that was repeating itself in my head resonated at the same pace as the one in my feet that gave an off-putting feeling, since I could not touch the ground. The air around me was colder, indicating a drop in the temperature, possibly due to it changing from day to night, and by this point, I was beginning to lose the feeling in my toes.

My back felt scorched as the cool air glided across it. As I swore, my eyes shut tightly, tears of pain trickling down my neck, I imagined a small scenario in my head. I had been rolled in salt and the masked man, wherever he was now, lingered over, laughing. He kicked me and I rolled into a pool of lemon juice, or any kind of citrus fruit I could think of. And I know that didn't happen, but it the tears and rips that were embedded into my back felt close enough to the truth. Before I blacked out, I remembered that man had a whip, and I knew that regardless of whether I got out of here alive or not, I was going to end up with some pretty nasty scars.

I then decided that now was a good time to attempt to escape, as I looked up at the roof, the pulley hook blurring slightly out of my line of vision. And the next moment was too, and the one after that. But the longer I kept dangling there like a fish on a line, the more that the time that I had left would tick away in an even rhythm.

So yes, now was a good time.

Licking my lips, urging myself, I reached up with one hand, cringing. I realized that I was going to have to carry out this with some amount of difficulty. Due to when I reached up with one hand, my other hand would slip down along with the rest of my body weight, making this move difficult to maneuver.

The first try, I managed to grab onto the latch, but quickly slipped away, my hand was quite sweaty, much to my disgruntlement. I remember growling out in anger when the whiplash and the weight of my body fell due to gravity, but that only made me want to escape even more.

"You're g-gonna _die_ if you stay h-here Phi." I didn't realize how much my voice had diminished, until now. It was hard to even swallow or talk anymore.

_Do it._

_Get up Phillipa._

_DO IT._

_GET UP._

_NOW._

I nodded at the voice, grunting as one hand gripped the chain of the handcuffs as well as the bottom of the hook. With all the strength I could muster up, I lifted my body, grabbed the latch with the other and kicked with my legs, quickly guided the chain over it.

I was about to smile at my accomplishment, but then before my brain had registered it, I hit the ground violently. A full, blood-curdling scream let itself loose out of my chest as my hands instantaneously grabbed the front of my head. My mouth stayed open as the scream ended. My breathing was uneven and I rolled to one side, the lashed of pain on my back were blocked out due to my head.

A scream.

"A-Ah...Oh my g-, are you -"

"DO I LOOK FUCKING OKAY!?" I sobbed, sitting up. I'll be honest, I don't like yelling at people, but clearly this woman must see the pain of this, small, defenceless hooligan, rolling on the floor, clutching my own head. And now that I could see her properly to some extent, her shocked face showed, her hands covering her mouth.

"..." She seriously looked like she was going to faint, when it probably should have been the other way around. She was trapped in a jail cell, clinging to the bars, her eyes showing that she wanted to help. Her blond hair was oily and it stuck to her head. Her clothes were dirtied and slightly ripped, but that was to the extent of my examining skills as my vision focused on my shaking hand that trickles of blood dripped, and I could feel it on my nose as well.

I don't know how I managed, but I stood, using the bars as support. Stumbling, she stood and swayed over to me, grabbing my elbows, helping me stable my shaking knees.

"Oh mio dio!" She repeated, examining my self-inflicted wound to the head. "You must hurry and get out of here!"

I shook my head slightly, stopping when the pain heightened. "N-no. I-I won't. I'm not g-"

"But he'll get back soon!" She said, urging, trying to convince me, shaking my shoulders. I slapped her hands away and fell back.

"No, I'll do as I say." I said, grasping the side-wall and lifting myself up, panting. "And t-then, you'll forget that I was ever here."

_Took a chunk out of the forehead too, I bet._

I flinched, and looked over my shoulder and she frowned deeply, her eyes flickering upwards, then taking a glance at my head again. "O-Ok-kay, but you have to be careful!"

I smiled. "Y-You know, I think I'm already _way_ past being careful."

She huffed, smiling also at my horrible attempt at lightening the mood. "R-Rosemary."

"Huh?"

" 'S my name." Rosemary had now crossed her arms and bit her lip, thinking. "What's a child like you doing here?" And then, in a hushed voice asked. "You're not a prostitute, are you?"

My brow twitched, and I looked down at myself.

No, I don't think I was one.

They didn't own a talking cat.

Or nor did they find themselves in odd situations, like I regularly do now.

"Er, no. I'm not." I said rather distasteful, adverting my eyes to the floor. "Why?"

"Most of the people who come through here are either that or tourists. You know, there have been so many deaths here that I'm surprised you're even alive."

"Well well, _surprise mother fucker._ I'm even _standing._" Sort of. I'm sure wobbling counts as standing. "Anya is mine and I'm here on an Art History trip with my class when I got separated."

She nodded her head and I heard the same voice that I'd heard before.

Was somebody coming?

"Figures. I'm, actually, I _was_ working on a story, but I've been here for a while so I doubt that I've even got a job anymore."

I straightened my posture, trying to see. "T-This person, has he got any tools?"

"Tools?" She repeated and then pointed through the bars, to the other side of the room. "O-over there, I think. I-I don't watch when he comes in...with others..."

_Then how are you still breathing if he kills? _I asked myself._ You're lying._

Slowly, I limped over to where she had pointed, and almost tripped over a hidden toolbox. I had to grip onto the wall in-front and bent slightly. This caused me to tear open some of the slightly closed wounds on my back that hurt like a mother fucking duck.

I tapped the tips of my fingers over the contents of things in the box, feeling a handle made of wood, and something wet, something that I'd rather not touch but in order to pull whatever was in there out, it wouldn't get in my way.

"Urgh, blood blood blood." I muttered, watching the red stuff spill out onto the floor when I pulled something out. It seeped in between my toes, feeling all too gross. I wriggled them. "Can't this place be more sanitary? This dude must wear a paper mask when he comes here. He mustn't have a wife."

_Yes!_

The tool was heavy at one end, but it was the tool I needed. A thick bolt-cutter.

I knelt on the ground as struggled to open the levers, using my legs to hold down the bottom one. I placed the chain in between the blades and gritted my teeth together as I pushed down.

_Come on, come on, work!_

I re-opened the bolt-cutter and tried again, this time, I cut through it, but by this time, my head was throbbing too much that I couldn't lift it.

My breathing became hitched again and I slumped to the ground, my stomach acting up.

And when I saw the light from the open doorway appear and a shadow as well, of a broad built, I screamed and thrashed.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

_With my wrists crossed, tied tightly around my back, I awoke from a forced slumber that was unexpected when it shouldn't have been. It was morning, and I could see some form of sunlight stream through the boarded up windows of the room, bouncing off of the floor and reflecting in my eyes, blinding them till they were sore. My fists dug into my spine, so I rolled onto my stomach and huffed begrudgingly, analyzing my with a careful intent._

_It was a simple room, so it took me no longer than five minutes to escape the 'rope knot', if you could consider it a good knot at all, and the room itself. The room opened out into a hallway, and by the looks of it, I was located in an office building of some sort, alone._

_I wandered around, being careful not to come across anybody else when I heard it. A shriveling scream that echoed off the walls, a scream that resonated the emotion of bloody pain, along with moaning._

_I followed the sounds and avoided the crowds of few men by slipping into rooms, hanging into shadows, blending into backgrounds like always. It's not hard to distance myself from society, I've done it for so long._

_I heard a louder scream, one with more urgency that made me pick my brisk strides into a full-out run, my arms swinging up._

_And I saw it then in the third room. There was a man, standing over her, a bolt-cutter high above his head._

_I killed him within two seconds. He died a painful death to the neck and if it weren't for the fact that someone else desperately needed my attention at the moment, I would have ravished myself in his screams, his moans, spilling blood everywhere and whispering in his ear when he begged for death - "You're not allowed to die. I'm having so much fun."_

_I chucked his corpse to the side and heard a squeak from behind the bars, but I didn't bother to look._

_I slipped my waistcoat off and folded it into a square, pressing hard on the girl's head, pulling her dark hair out of the way._

_"Bocchama..."_

_"Oi!" The voice called out, her vocal cords shaking. "I-Is she okay?"_

_"No." I said, holding her upwards. There was blood running down her neck and when my hand felt the squishy surface of her back, my gut dropped and I spotted the ripped scars that repeated down her back. She looked like shit. "Oh dear lord..."_

_"C-Can you let me out?" The woman asked, standing so that her head poked through the bars. "I-I know a bit of medical application..."_

_"And how are you going to do that?" I asked calmly, glancing back to her. "There's no medical equipment here that's usable!" _

_She sighed and clamped her mouth shut, lips tightly pressed against one another. "I'm sure more of them will come soon. You need to get Anya away from here!"_

_"She will be safe."_

_She smiled and it faltered as I stood and walked over to the bars, saying. "Stand back."_

_"Why?" She asked, complying anyway._

_I stepped back, rolling onto the ball of one foot and then shot forward, round-house kicking the barred doors. It slammed against the adjacent wall with a loud bang! and the woman flinched._

_She was probably just a passerby of sorts._

_Or she could be an assassin posing as one._

_Mama said never to be too careful._

_I pulled the gun out of my pants and aimed it at her. "You did not see or hear us here. We never existed, nor will we ever. __I will escort you outside, but that is where we will part. _Afferrare?"

_She shook her head vigorously. "S-Si!"_

_"Very good."_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

_Despite her thin, lanky figure and long tanned legs, she weighed a lot more than what I could have judged by eyesight._

_Mama also said never to judge a person by their cover._

_I got caught from the moment I sneaked into the hotel._

_"Come here." The man spat from behind the bar. He put down the pint glass that he was drying down on the white plastic rack and motioned his head to the wooden door behind him. He flicked the tea-towel over his shoulder and opened the door as I carried her into the room, bridal style, blood dripping onto the wooden floorboards._

_"Sorry." I muttered._

_"I'll clean it when I'm done patching up your fidanzata."_

_"She's not-"_

_"I don't care." The muscled man said. He had light brown, chestnut hair. His hairline was receding and his mustache bounced up and down when he spoke, stubble scattered on his chin. "I don't want the police coming in here, giving my place a bad rep. Prefer to keep that all that shit in the back, hidden away from the public eye." His accent was more drawn out as his husky voice rose. "It happens a lot more than I'd like it to. Fucking mafia."_

_I nodded, agreeing. Not all the mafia was bad, but there was fucking a lot of them who struggle with right and wrong._

_I laid Bocchama down on the bed, carefully sliding my hand from out under her head._

_"I leave her in your keeping, good sir."_

_Then, I left without another word, stepping over the sleeping cat._

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I woke up in a spluttering coughing fit that burned my throat, staring up at the cracked plasticine ceiling. I found that my lungs were also heavy as well as sore.

In short, I looked like shit, felt like shit. Basically, I was a sensitive testing dummy for a mad man.

I was used as a chopping board gosh darn it!

"_Oh heck..." _I managed to spit out after the coughing fit had died down to a slight simmer. I could move my arms without too much difficulty, but that was about all _I could do.__  
_

"_So my sleeping beauty's awake~"_

My heart fluttered, lips curling upwards into a sort-of-happy smile and I turned my head, staring at Al, who was lying on a stool with his legs hanging delicately off of its sides, tails spontaneously flicking in a random direction every few seconds. I stared at him with one eye closed, since my other eye was blinded by a white blur that was caused by a bump in the pillow; probably just some trapped air.

I cringed, breathing in through my nose and moved delicately to an upwards sitting position. "W-Where the heck were ya Al?"

"On the move." He said, in the same tone that I used; one that was almost unsure of itself. And I was still shrouded in doubt over what happened back there. I remembered pain and that thickening, claustrophobic darkness that was overwhelming and tinged with the silence that I only thought would exist on the crime and investigation channel. I remember imagining that those horrible things that happened to all those _other_ people would be the closest violence that I would even come into contact with. Boy, was I terribly wrong. "It was difficult to locate your position, and on top of that, I couldn't help you. I'm a cat, after all."

He sneezed, his whiskers wriggling in the air. "But that psycho in a waistcoat managed to find you before I could devise a plan. Bet you never thought you'd get yourself caught up in a torture project in the darker part of the Italian mafia, now did you?"

My eyebrows rose. "Oh, so now you have some balls to compensate for your lack of decency as a friend? When I was getting tortured?"

"Like I said, I'm a cat. It was like Fort Knox, according to that man's thoughts. It looked like a scientific building. Maybe a lab hidden under the public's nose?"

"Thoughts?" I asked, pondering on the word.

He rubbed a paw against his ear after licking at it. "Yeah, you know. Thoughts, they're the words that you imagine in your head. All animals can do it, of course, as well as humans. How do you think parrots _know _how to talk, or how mothering animals may foster another animal child from a different species? Humans think that dogs and horses closely rely on this trait, but they're not the only ones. It's a specific form of communication. You somehow can tap into it naturally, through your genetics, probably a mutated gene. Mongrel."

"Bitch." I coughed again, nearly inhaling the glass of water that was placed on the bedside cabinet. "Poor excuse for a cat. I'm sure that your kind pretends to spot demons just to act batshit at the worst of times."

His tail twitched."You'd be surprised at what I see daily."

I laughed once at his attempt of a smile, which worked. How he could do that to me, I would probably never be able to figure out. My best friend, a cat. Most people would think I've gone crazy.

Maybe I have.

"So how was your weekend of torture?" He asked kindheartedly, enlightening the mood once more, probably seeing me as weak now because I was injured. "See any cute boys?"

I smiled. "One guy tried to come onto me, but I can't remember much of what happened after that. I felt myself bobbing up and down, feeling the wind on my legs, so it might have been when that man that you said had rescued me." My eyes perked up. "W-Where is he anyway, I should thank you!"

"Gone."

"What?"

"Like the wind." He stated." He didn't stay for long. Only popped back in to see how you were going. That was two days ago."

"And how long have I been out of it?" I asked, drawing out the vowels, my voice rising, and I almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"Five days, I think."

I sighed, sniffing. "Well there's a weeks worth of work lost. Fucking assholes."

He nodded.

I turned my head, as a thought passed my mind. "Do you remember that pile of photos that I stole from my mother?"

"Aren't you supposed to say 'the photo's I _borrowed_ from my mother'?"

"It's too late for that lie, ain't it?" I said, my sarcasm growing again into a formed work of art. (In my head, that is.) "She's dead, and I can't do anything about it. Anyway, back onto the subject of those photos."

"Yes, the photos. What about them?"

"That woman who was on her phone at that café. I met her."

Cue the silence followed by the WTF face, cat version. "WHAT?"

"I met her, in there. The pain must have gotten to my head because I can only remember vague colors and sentences, along with memories that have no sound; only mouths moving silently." I cleared my throat. "She said some things, but I have had a feeling, something telling me that she was lying about certain things. Mother was tracking her."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Finish what Mother started." I replied, overlapping my hands in my lap. "I'll start tracking her as well. She's bound to know something, if Mother was tracking her."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Probably one of the most draining chapters I've written. Sorry that's a little late, but I was at Armageddon all weekend dressed as Fem!Tsuna and Fem!Reborn, so if you wanna go have a sneaky peeky at my cosplays, go to my deviantart account (Verdigurl). They should be there.**

**Anywho, _speaking of conventions_, I got to have a picture with Mitch Pileggi and Jason Momoa! *Squeals* That, and after the second day, I came home to an inbox _flooded_ with reviews, mainly thanks to Leolnuyuka for advertising it in her story. So for that, this chapter is for her~ I hope your arm/hand/wrist is feeling better. :) (Speaking of which, it reminds me of when I met a Castiel cosplayer and she was like 'OHMYGODYOULOOKKAWAIIINYOURCHIBITALIAOUTFIT,IWANTA PICTUREOFYOU!' and I was all like 'WHAT!IWANTAPICTUREOFYOUYOUBEAUTIFULTHING!')**

**Thank you to the many many Followers and favourites and Insanity-Red for adding my story to her community of favourite stories. Endless hugs, high fives and brofists (depending on your tastes) goes out to you guys! :)**

**Replies:**

**Leolnuyuka: *Bows* You're awesome. *Grabs the box of cookies* Thank you! These taste much better than my home-made riceballs! (PS, yeah. That's what Wikipedia said.)**

**Guest 1: Hm, yeah, it might be a thought to ponder on, but right now, I can live without one. BTW, I agree that that chapter was rushed, so when I get the time, I'll fix it.**

**Guest 2: M'thank you! I wanted it to fell like something that normally people wouldn't see on a KHR fanfiction. The story will pick up soon. (Originally, I'd planned to add more, but then I had a really good idea, so I decided to stop when she woke up.)**

**Angelic Fluff: Thank you for reviewing :)!**

**xXstarmiXx: Woah woah woah. Hold it right there cowgirl, your praises are gonna sweep me off of the couch in a minute! Thank you so much for saying lovely words. I can assure you, your comment made me smile widely. And yes, you did. You better throw him back before he gets scared of my weirdness.**

**Dutchpuppy: No biggie. Your chips are making me hungry. Potatoes are my favorite snack next to sushi. BTW IT AIN'T F'D UP! I JUST LIKE SKULL COMING FIRST FOR ONCE! *You can't hear me laughing, so just imagine it* I thought it'd be creative. Merci beaucoup for the cake and pie desu.**

**o_o: You're very welcome, no name. Now please stop staring at me, your username is creeping me out.**

**tsukinoyume11: It was the pedo-bear.**

**ausumist: Thank you! I love to hear comments like that!**

**Dr. Captain Pepper: I love how you reviewed every chapter, so I'm going to say things in order of review. 1)- Not gonna. 2)- Yeah, I know. I've had that comment before and I've tried to research things, but I'm trying my best with it. 3)- Yes sirry~, yes he is! 4) - I find it hard to write as Colonnello, and some of the other characters in KHR, so I'm gonna try much harder! Thank you for your lovely reviews!**

**Alrighty, I'm going to do Art Design stuff now.**

**-Verdigurl**


	6. Inching

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 6: Inching**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: Asleep - The Smiths (Or rather, the Suckepunch version)]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Have you ever had the sensation, where you're standing on a beach, your feet ankle deep in the reaching tides, hundreds on tiny golden specks floating across the top of them? Or a dream so vivid and fresh that you think that it's real and when you wake up, just for the briefest moment, you still believe that it's so? It wasn't till this morning that I stopped having that feeling. For three weeks, I'd constantly wake up in the middle of my nightmares, eyes wide as dinner plates, clutching the tops of my duvet covers. Al's sleeping form would always be at the end of my feet, and I could feel his breathing resonate through the blankets. Each night I would still dream of that awful place, of that woman with wild, oily hair. And at the end of every dream, I'd scream in my head, the figure of the attacker covering my eyes.

It was strange, now that I think, that I never saw the waistcoat man. Maybe it was because I never got a glimpse of him when I was barely unconscious.

It took me most of the following month to recover from the beating. According to Al, back had healed up lovely, but I knew he was only trying to make me happy. I could still see the pink lines, the red tinge around them when I had the chance to look at them properly in the mirror. (_What he really said "Really Philly? You look perfectly fine like a summer wine! You should wear a tank top more often!" ) _The man who owned the hotel was nice enough to let me board there while I licked my wounds, without having to pay rent. Mumbled on about the _fucking mafia, fucking murderers._ Wasn't any of my business to pry, so I didn't and neither did Al, not that he could. But as soon as I was sure that I could move without hurting too much, I moved. Taking all of my belongings, I switched twice, in case I was being tracked. Better to be paranoid than dead.

The place still stunk of a gruesome, bloody mess. I had to pinch my nose to get through it, to refuse my stomach the luxury of emptying my stomach; it had already done so much in my recovery weeks that I'd lost some weight. My cheeks had lost a little of their baby fat and now, I could manage to fit into a size eight. The building had been declared a hazard zone, I'd heard, and sealed off to the public, for unknown reasons, as told by the local morning paper. Police were making their rounds, guarding the building. I thanked Colonnello and Skull in my head. All I had to do was knock a few people out and break a window to get into the building. Rather lax security. My old bedroom probably had more than it did. We wandered the halls for a while, and I trusted Al's judgement as he led me, finally stopping at a door at the fork in a random hallway. His tongue licked the air, once I kicked down the door.

_"Yuck."_ He muttered, cringing._ "Human's are so disgusting. Stupid, dirty beings._"

_Cats don't clean up after themselves either, _I thought, keeping my lips clamped together. "Are you sure this is the same room Al?"

_"As sure as I'll ever be, hot stuff. Your scent's all over the place."_

I t'ched, turning on the torch I'd brought along, that I'd packed beside my first aid kit. That was something I was never going to leave behind _ever again_ . "Nice to know."

The light-bulb flickered on and passed like a ghost over the contents of the room, the metal objects catching it's faux light. Puddles of blood were strewn everywhere, drag marks streaking across the room. As the light passed over the empty cell bars, I swore and licked my bottom lip.

"Our little liars gone."

"Obviously."

"I knew something was off about her." I sighed, closing my eye-lids as the glare caught my eyes. "What do we do now, captain cool? She's gone and I have no idea where the hell she went." I raised my arms in frustration, shaking them. _That fucking waistcoat. Why couldn't he have stayed a bit longer?_

_"Pity."_ He replied, when he slicked through the bars and sniffed around. Then, he came back, and plonks his little kitty ass on the concrete, which hadn't been cleaned. Ha, so now he calls humans unsanitary, but he's perfectly comfortable sitting in a puddle of blood? Good lord. _"I can barely smell the woman. Your scent is overpowering it,. It's so intoxicating that my head will probably start soon."_

I slapped my hands against my sides. "So, now what? We just _give up?" _

_"What else can you do Phillipa, in a situation like this?"_ He asked, heading back towards the door. I scrunched up my face in disappointment, still eyeing him._ "You're no Doctor. You can't sonic your way out of this one."_

I sniffed out, frowning.

I hate it when he's right.

Which is most of the bloody time.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Hello.

Now you see, this is the usual greeting that I use to address another person. No sir's or mam's, just hello. There's no point in doing so if most of the people around you are more ruder than a telephone caller that rings in the middle of dinner, just when you've sat down to eat.

But I can tell you now, Italy's a different place than America.

They're so lovely.

Especially the kidnappers.

"Mi scusi."

I was in a receptionists office, one that gleamed white and had sharp edges on their front desks and table-tops. Bright hues of orange and sunshine yellows where placed ecstatically on the walls, bright and bold. A bunch of lilies were placed in a large vase on the customer table beside the couches, magazines spread out, showing off. Their covers had been torn off, most likely to stop them being resold, if they ever got stolen, which would be pretty low of a thief. All in all, this looked like a nice reception area.

But that wasn't why I was here, to flip through the monthly fashions.

"S-Signora, parla inglese?"

A gap of white, shining teeth that a dentist would be proud of protruded from the gap of ruby-red lips, as she nodded, placing an article of paper back from where she had picked it up off. "Yes, I do."

"Oh thank god!" I exclaimed, shoving over a folded out map. "I-I was getting a little panicked there for a second, I was! Nobody, nobody I'd ever met before would speak good English! Would you believe it!"

Her mouth formed into what you could almost call a nervous, unsure smile, one filled with distaste. "...yes."

"Now love, would you point out where I could find this street?" I pointed one red nail at a random street. "I've been lookin' all day and I just can't find it!"

"That's easy." She replied, and drew a line through the map, as a path pointer thingy. Because you've _just_ got to have a path pointer thingy when you're giving out directions. "All you do is turn left, then head to the end of the street and take the first right. After that you go to the end of that street and then you're there!"

I smiled widely. "Oh thank you so much!"

"That's quite alright." She said, waving me goodbye. "Arrivederci. Have a good day."_  
_

As I turned my back, I smiled even brighter, thinking.

_I will if this goes off well._

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

"So how did it go Al?" I asked, sipping on an iced tea. When I brought it, I figured it would be the best way to deal with the heat. I didn't know whether the feeling in my stomach was coming from that or my closely imminent plan, but I can tell you that my stomach didn't like it much. Peach and plum, the bottle said. "Does it look okay?"

_"There's a truck entrance at the back that's probably on a constant surveillance, judging by the camera's and wired fence. I managed to pass it by squeezing through a hole in the fence, but that was far as I could manage. A stupid man picked me up and started cooing. Oh hooow cute you are, what a looovely coat~"_ He poked out his tongue._ "Yuck. If I hadn't scratched his face up I might have become a victim of that horrendous fashion phase where humans think that it's alright to put your animals into clothes that match their own."_

"So it would be alright to say that it's a possible escape route if I need it?"

_"Sure, those fences won't stand a chance against your power. But you need to stay low, and not draw the attention of the Vongola. The last thing you want is to have them chasing your tail."_

I nodded, placing down the bottle. "It would be a hassle if it came to that."

_"What did you find out?"_

"The front looks like any other office, but I really do think that it's a poor get-up for a supposed construction company. You wouldn't find security cameras in a place you can't rob."

_"So tonight then?"_

"Of course" I replied with a toothy smile, picking up the drink again. "No use heading into a battleground when the enemy's still up and partying."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

It wasn't an original plan of mine, but rather Al's. He suggested for me to wear black for the break in, to decrease my chances of being caught by the cameras.

Well, actually, that's not really true. What he actually meant was that I _will_ probably have at least one image of me on their security camera's, so his idea was to decrease the percentage. It wasn't a cold night at all, but a rather humid one, much like the day before. Originally, I would have opted for some long dress pants and a vest, but tonight, I found shorts and a tank top to be in my best interest, to stop me from dying of overheating.

I came around the back and kept in between the shadows, slinking from where the wall met the concrete ground. I could see the glimmer of the patrol lights and a warden in a pox, most likely staying in for overnight deliveries. He had nodded off about ten minutes ago, occasionally sniffing, grumbling.

I checked my watch.

"It's one thirty-five." I whispered, Al's head peeking out from my backpack. _Prepares for the worst, hopes for the best._ "I don't think we'll be spotted. But we should go now."

"_Yes._"

Nodding, I breathed in and nodded, listening to the voice in my head. The fence wasn't too hard to scale over, and it wasn't infused with electricity, so it took me no longer than four minutes to reach the other side, after a little huffing and cutting through the barbed wire with some pliers that I found lying around a construction site a few blocks down from here. My physical form still wasn't the best it could be, even after Colonnello's training. vI kept within the nearby shadows of the lingering building, never crossing into the light, always having a hand outwards to trace over the brick walls.

_Clunk!_

_Shit, _I thought, unconsciously ducking my head lower, my eyes on the gate, but nothing was there to suggest anything fell over. My heart was still jittery and I shook the thought away, blaming my hyped-up conscience.

Eventually, my hand passed from brick to wood and I soon found myself tiptoeing up a flight of stairs,to the top floor of the docking station. (The floor wasn't that far off of the ground.) I found the door to the warehouse and the door to where the trucks would back into. Picking the first door's lock was completely out the window. Fingerprint scanner, it was. I didn't have any make-up on hand, or any silicone mold to cover my finger with. So, I moved onto the second door, focusing all of my energy on picking the lock. I slid the tipped-pin into the hole and inserted another, twisting the first pin to the right and moving the second pin upwards.

"Work for Momma." I whispered, licking my top tip and then, heard a familiar _ker-klunk _that made my heart sing. "Ooo, thank you, thank you~"

I twisted the handle to the left and carefully lifted the sliding door, quietly, as to not alert anyone, rolling into the darkness and closing the door behind. Al pouted as I lowered my backpack, fishing out the torch that I remembered to pack.

"_Well, that asshole of a kid might not have all bee rubbish. Pity." _

"Oh don't hate on Skull." I replied hastily, finding the torch and fiddling with the switch. "He's a good kid. Man. Honest."

"Honesty won't get you places kiddo." He said and I turned on the light, which flickered for a brief moment before stabilizing. "It gets you into more crap that you wished you had."

"Don't I know." I breathed out and headed to the nearest door. "Let's just find that stupid information already."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I fail at computers, so hacking them wasn't an option. (I wasn't willing to give over my fingerprints _that_ easily. And I figured that the next option would have been man-handled to the point where it could've been mistaken for a hooker.)

School secretaries must have such a boring job, working with papers all day. I never expected to have to sift through all these filing cabinets, file after file, iffy papers of complicated words and violent assassinations. Oh, and an incident where there were several deaths due to uncooked food, but nothing interesting that cached my eyes. The useless papers seemed endless. Nothing. There was nothing I could find here on the arcobalenos.

Regrettably, I took a peak at my watch.

"Oh heck. It's only been thirty minutes."

_"Could be worse. Could've been five minutes."_

Al yawned, and again, even more regrettably, I whacked my head against the table rather loudly.

And at the same time, I may have set of a loud alarm.

No biggie, just me, managing to screw myself over.

"OH FOR F- " I grabbed my bag. "We're so screwed!"

_"Well don't you flutter there like a bloody fangirl, you idiot!_" Al yelled behind me, and I shot out the door as armed guards rounded the corner. They didn't look too happy about a stranger in short shorts walking randomly around a high security area. "_RUN!"_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Do I have an excuse? No.**

**I had my really low days, and then a really crap one today. Then my father took me out to JB High Fi and brought me two DVD's for an excellent report card. One was _The Blair Witch Project_ (Rubbish movie.) and the other, a Doctor Who DVD. And while I was watching Rose say goodbye to the doctor, I got a pleasant review, and I thought "I HAVE TO WRITE!"**

**So here I am. Hope you guys haven't waited too long. If you have, go ahead and threaten me with candyfloss. :)**

**As usual, many, many thanks to those who have faved and followed URGH I WANT TO HUG YOU ALL! But I can't. So put your hand on the screen. You don't? Well hurry up. You do? Good job. I'm giving you all an internet high-five.**

**Reviews:**

**ausumist: I feel like I have to address you first since I went back in my comments and saw all of your reviews and now I have no idea how I missed them. And now I feel kinda bad. :/ Uh, anywho, yours was my pleasant review, so I really do appreciate you getting me up off of my ass and making me to write! *Hugs* **

**Dr Captain Pepper: Hm, yes, In some aspects I agree with you. Thanks!**

**...wait, you speak french?**

**shanagi95: Well, I kinda do know already. But I'm keepin' my lips shut like a purse so you'll just have to wait!**

**Viper'sgirl: Yes, I think he would. He's not the nicest of kitties, but that's the way I like 'im! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest: Well, I hadn't noticed it, but thanks for pointing it out. And the next time you decide to start bossing me around for a simple mistake like that, use some manners or sit back and drink some tea, will you? Good? Good.**

**ausumist: (again) I want to say that of course I thought of that but I actually didn't. I'll put it down as dumb luck, like Phillipas.**

**And that's that. Anything else? Other than entering the start/beginning of my '_Mumei' _fanfiction into my school writing competition, I don't really have much to say other than next time is when the fun really starts and that we get actual characters! ;) Can't wait!**

**-Verdigurl**


	7. Per i miei sogni voglio perseverare

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 7: Per i miei sogni voglio perseverare**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: AC/DC - Hiiiiiiiiiiighway to hell]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

You know, I've never felt that depressed about life before. Not once have I ever descended into that deep hole of darkness, one that seemed endless, because it wasn't. For some bizarre, insane reason, I've always managed to climb myself out with the grip of my hands and my determination spread widely on my shoulders.

Once, when I was four, for mother's day, I remember being asked to create a family portrait. _Improvise, _the teacher had told me, when I had protested, saying that it was _a stupid task to ask of me_.

_You'll have fun if you try_, she replied, never letting go of my gaze. I remember my past self gritting my baby teeth. _You never know if you don't._

I did so, and it turned out okay enough. Drew my family, and not a father. Who needed them, right?

And this has nothing to do with the problem that I had now that was nipping at my hide.

But I guess it's those good times that allows me to keep smiling. Because they were mine alone, something which I cherished. They weren't so easy to take away from me, like everything else I had come to love.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

"This was a stupid idea."

_"This was your stupid idea."_

"No way! It was your idea!"

_"Get your facts straight, you blinking spotlight! It was all Colonnello's fault!"_

I groaned underneath my breath as we huddled tightly in the supply closet. It gave us a place to hide for a reasonable amount of time, but I knew that it would be impossible to stay for long in one spot. Either they'd find us or we would be stuck in here, meaning that the Vongola's security would be beefed up tremendously. Meaning an utterly disastrous pile of cow doo-doo to get out of, which I was _not _looking forward to.

Shaking my head, I loaded my revolver with six bullets. "I'm going to kick his son-of-a duck, blond little ass when I get back. I swear to god, I'll-"

"_Shh!"_ Al hushed. Thudding footsteps reverberated outside, in the long hallways and, for a moment, I help my breath as they passed the closet, their shadows phasing through the single, milky glass plane.

My mind told me to go now, or rather, shouted at me to get my ass up and out of this hell hole. At a moments notice, I slowly opened the door slightly and checked. No, nobody was there. Good. I think Now's a good time to run.

_Let's get out of here, _I thought, as I took the opposite path as to what those '_guards'_ took. (If you could even call them that. Maybe they were just some guys with some heavy artillery. Who knows.) Every corner I checked before heading in a general direction that _seemed_ to go somewhere. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the direction was _good_, but it was alright. I nearly got caught twice.

And somehow, the metal bars that covered the windows stopped the 'breaking a window' method.

"Darn..." I mutter, eyeballing that bloody window, staring at it, probably hoping in the back of my head that my eyes would suddenly shoot lasers that could melt them. That would be nice.

"_We haven't got a lot of options left..._"

I sighed, pulling back my black, curly hair into a small pigtail. "I know Al..."

His tiny nose sniffed the air. "It's really soapy in here."

"Ugh, _I know. Reeks_ of bleach."

"That's because a lot of people come through here covered in blood and whatnot and the boss has said that he didn't want the transfer of diseases that could be transferred through bodily fluids."

I almost jumped because of that voice, if my fingernails weren't before digging deeply into my palms that would most likely leave a small imprint. The voice had been small, and as I turned, I realized that it had come from a boy, one that was probably still young enough to be called a child, if I was judging from his appearance. The pajama clothed boy rubbed his blue eyes, accidentally in the process moving his fringe, little bits at the end of it flicking over his left eyebrow.

"At least they're clean about things." I replied,trying to find some good in that statement. I turned towards the boy. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I heard a noise."

I smiled. "You too? Heh..."

"What are you doing?" He asked, clutching the bottom of his pajama shirt. His eyes went wider when I didn't reply quick enough. "Thou art the intruder?!"

"Shhh!" I whispered, covering his mouth. "I don't want _any_ trouble, okay?!"

"_Fuck, don't just stand here, sweet cheeks, we've got to skedaddle. NOW."_

He whacked away my hand and stumbled back. "Are you kidding me? You just broke into the CEDEF, and you expect _no trouble?"_

"Okay, good point there, Captain obvious." I put my hands up. "I think I'm just gonna take my leave now, so why don't you just go back to bed and dream of Hogwarts, or whatever's popular these days."

He reached into pants and pulled out a small, brown pill bottle. I don't know what was more alarming, where the heck he was keeping that bottle (What, did is pants have an internal pocket?) or that he had just ingested a blue pill. A flame appeared on his forehead, just like the ones I had seen on Mafia Island.

Aw shit-nuggets.

"W-What did you just do?"

"_Phillipa!" _

"Alright!" I yelled, turning. I stopped on the ball of my feet when I was _pleasantly _greeted with a gun at my face that had a _massive_ barrel, surrounded by ten or so men. One that could probably blow my head off if I let them. "Ah bugger."

A man stepped between two of the white clothed men, a pistol in his hand. "Put your hands up and lie face down on the ground. If you do not comply, we will shoot."

"_P, if there's ever the time, do it now."_

"Okay." I said, nodding, getting on my knees. "But actually, I'd rather just leave."

It came as quickly as a blink. In a nano second, my barrier had appeared again, encasing me, creating a space in-between the men and I, its mouths reaching out, clamping on the air.

I ducked as the kid attempted to clock me over the head with a swift, roundhouse kick.

"Hold your horses, you flying fruitcake!" I yelled, blocking kick after kick, and also random punches, just to spice up the fight. They were firm punches, barely beginners, so that meant he had been trained.

Great, just what I needed. A miniature Rambo!

The kid was _extremely_ quick on his feet. It was enough trouble to dodge everything that he threw in my peripheral direction and his increased power. What the heck was that thing he took? A kid's meal version of steroids? Of course, you wouldn't see something like that from a _normal_ kid, but then again, this was the world of the mafia, where babies can talk and cats can sass your ass all the way to the moon and back. My punches weren't as effective as his and quickly, I felt myself inching into a wall.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled, ducking his flying kick. The kid smashed his fist into my gut, and in that moment, I let my guard down.

Which was very, very stupid of me.

_"Phillipa, look out!"_

In that second, he managed to throw several more hulk-packed punches into my already bruised gut. When I realised that if I kept acting as his punching bag that I wouldn't make it out of here, I decided to fight back, even if the odds were in his favor.

I kicked him back into the wall. "Nu-uh, honey. I ain't lying down or giving up!"

His eyes widened, almost becoming big as tea saucers, when I grabbed onto his forearm. Gutturally, mostly out of desperation and pain, my voice yelled as thin strands of what was a small fraction of my barrier wrapped around his arm, slithering like a python. Branching out from the original strands, even thinner tendrils shot out and the ends formed into the usual mouths. Without even concentrating, they hooked their teeth into his soft, toned arms, causing him to flinch back. They spun themselves around his body and the kid did his best to bat them away, yelling out.

"STOP! STOP!"

The thump of my footsteps reverberated in my ears as I sprinted down the hall and I thought to myself. Probably should have yelled out an apology to him. I don't think he deserved that.

The halls looked like what the reception area did. Heck, they all looked pretty much the same to me, except from the places where I literally walked past unconscious guards, just, you know, laying down on the job. It was every five minutes that I'd run into someone, and _bam!_ I would have to knock them out. But eventually, I did find a hallway that looked more familiar hallway that didn't look like the others, plus a door that looked even more enticing. I busted through the familiar looking door with my shoulder, grunting. I jumped down the stairs and ran my hardest through the warehouse floor, hearing voices. I swore and lifted the rolling door, but only got as far as lifting it up to my waist, before being shot at.

"Hands up!" A woman shouted, her pistol held up in line with her eyes. "And don't do _any_ of that _shit_ you just did!"

"Better than any of your party tricks, bitch." I muttered, dropping the door all together. An all-mighty _bang!_ echoed, a small dust cloud forming. "Bring it."

"Enough."

My eyes looked towards a man who presented himself like any good business person would. Dressed in a snazzy suit, most likely a custom-made one, and light blond stubble, he looked like the kind of man who I should tread carefully around.

"You should watch your tone, young lady." He said to me, in plain English, with a hint of an eastern lisp. "I do not take kindly to intruders, especially ones who harm _my family_. We have several armed men who are ready to shoot you if you do not behave. Am I clear, or do I need to dumb it down for you?"

Disgruntled, I could feel Al moving slightly in my backpack. I'd zipped it up, in attempt to hide him from the others.

"No," I replied, as the woman motioned for me to raise my hands Rather rudely, I might add. "Oi, watch it lady."

The man sighed and the woman growled a little.

"_Please,_ both of you."

"Not my fault that she's cocking her gun at my face." I raised a hand to prove my point. "The idiot doesn't even realize that she's left the safety on!"

The woman blushed madly as she fiddled with the gun, her hands shaking, and for a moment, I was afraid that she would misfire once that safety was off.

"Gosh, don't embarrass yourself, hun."

"I said _enough!" _The man shouted angrily, and with a swift gesture, my right shoulder bled when a bullet shot through with a bullet, causing a radiating pain in my chest. I ended up going down on one knee to dodge another bullet that rebounded from the door. "I said behave."

My eyebrow twitched as the surrounding guards shifted ever closer.

I sighed and clutched at the gaping hole with my left hand. "This day just keeps getting better by the minute..."

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

They left me in a guarded cell for the remainder of the night. Stripped me of both my bag and clothes, I lay on a sheet-less mattress, wondering if Al was alright. Dressed in what seemed like a prisoners outfit, not stark naked or anything like that.

I'd already scanned the room, checking for hollow walls, or any weaknesses and I can tell you that they kept it tighter than a jam jar. The steel door seemed to reinforce the impending doom that I was in for, if the warning that they gave me while I was nit-picking weren't enough.

"Hey, stop that already, you little shit. It's too fucking early for this crap."

So I politely that if _he's tired_ I'd be more than happy to put him to sleep. An also I told him that if he kept using such blunt language, I'd shove that rifle so far up his ass that when I was finished with him, he would closely resemble a hand puppet.

Yeah, that shut him up pretty quickly.

The time let me ponder on some regarded thoughts for a while, and slowly, I began to drift off.

I was craving hash-browns at the time.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

The next morning, without breakfast or a single word spoken, I was lead down the same corridors with about more armed men than I could care to bat an eye at. But do you know how I know it was the same? There was a fresh coat of blood on their white walls, being cleaned off by a janitor who looked over his shoulder at me, cringing. Surely, that was my fault, even if I had no recollection of even going near the stuff. And, you know, I understand the guy completely. Blood stains are a distasteful horror to get off of clothes and surfaces. God knows I've tried a lot of methods for the stuff and the only thing that's worked is lots and lots of bleach.

It makes sense now why they're so sanitary.

The guards spoke quickly in Italian, with their heads covered in helmets, such like Skull would wear, except they had no distinctive features and that they had a black screen.

Fancy.

"Soggiornare qui e assicurarsi che la ragazza non sfugge." Said a guard at the front when we stopped meters away from two doors, who wore a red armband and grunted in a smokey voice, like he'd been smoking his whole life or something similar. He certainly smelled of it. "Tenere un occhio di lei e potrebbe farci morire tutti. Avete visto cosa è successo l'ultima pattuglia."

Something about me being _exceptionally dangerous_. How nice of him to think that.

The guard moved down to the second door and entered after knocking, leaving me alone with a group of trigger-happy faceless people.

I tapped my foot._ "Hey Satan, paid my dues, playing in a rocking band, hey Momma, look at me..."_

_"Ragazza tranquilla." _Snapped one of the guards, who looked more smaller, compared to the ones I saw last nigh.

"Excuse me for having a good taste in music, sweet cheeks. Back off before I beat the shit out of you."

Under his helmet, I could hear him grumble an Italian swear word, and if it weren't for Mr-Red-Arm-Band returning out of the room, I would have given up my strawberry pudding on betting that this bossy boots of a guy would've tried to poke me with his gun.

"In you go." He said, shoving me inside the room by my elbow. I shot him a glare before he closed the door after himself, the sound of a bolt lock shutting.

"Thank you." I said aloud, licking my lips, apparently talking to nobody. I then sat down at the wooden seat and crossed my arms, staring directly into the wide, tinted window, focusing my thoughts.

This particular room looked like what you would find in a crime scene investigation show, where they'd keep people and question them till they gave in, disputed their innocence, break down in tears or spilling blood. Or maybe the last one was just my own personal idea of a police cell. I had no idea, after all. I'd never been caught by them. Ha.

I ignored the constant jabbering inside my head and allowed my thoughts to wander to Al's safety.

Was he okay?

_Hang on Phillipa, _I told myself, _define okay._

Breathing. Breathing is alive and alive was good, by my standards.

Was he _even alive?_

I breathed in through my nose and shook my head, thinking of an escape plan.

I had no usable weapon; they'd taken away my revolver and Swiss army knife, and that shield, by no means was anywhere near controllable. The most times I could use it in a day was two, which was hardly an advantage. Not an advantage anymore, actually, since they know about it now.

The bolts on the door started to tumble, and the handle clicked open, a well-built man who I had never seen before stepped in, a hand full of papers. Once the door had closed, I'd heard the bolts tumble again, meaning they had locked him in with me. Were they that trusting of this man, thinking that I couldn't overpower him?

Or were they simply thinking something else?

He let the papers fall onto the desk and took the seat in front of myself, clasping his hands together, obviously thinking through his words so much they really did reach out to me. My eyes flickered from the window, to his shoulder, to his face, to the papers and then back at his face. It was probably half a minute before something happened, which was initiated by me, since this guy wasn't willing to talk. How unfitting of an agent.

I fiddled with my jaw and leaned my head to the left, making _playful_ eye contact. "Yo."

"Hello." He replied, straightening his back. He breathed in and looked me over. "Do you want to explain why you broke into CEDEF headquarters, found with extremely sensitive papers."

"No, I don't think I want to. What I do _want_ to know is if he's okay."

"Who?"

"You know, the black kitty-cat in my bag. Judging by your vest here sonny-boy, you were the one that handled him."

"..."

My lips parted into a smile and I leaned in slightly. "Hehe, how many of you did he take out?"

"That isn't important here." He t'ched, sighing internally, no doubt in my mind that he was thinking that I was an asshole.

"Oh no, it is." I snapped back, my smile never-fading. "You see, he's quite important to me and so I hope that you've behaved yourself around him, because I won't be the one to clean up your face when he shreds it."

In that moment, sonny-boy slammed his fist on the table. I didn't flinch, but instead stood up when he did. But I wasn't quick, as grabbed my right arm and forced my head onto the table, firmly gripping the upper and lower part of my arm.

"I'll ask you again, _cagna._" He spat and I could hear him grinning, as he _snapped_ my arm. "Why do you have classified papers from our drawers?"

I screeched when he snapped it, stamping my foot a little, grunting.

He bent my arm, causing _excruciating, _stab-like pain that traveled upwards into my head. "And on top of that, why do you have a folder of reports that have been missing for _seventeen years?" __  
_

I turned my head the other way. "Well the last one ai - OW, MOTHER-FUCKER. FUCK. Y-"

"Speak the truth and nothing else." He stated, letting go of my arm to reach into his vest pocket.

In that moment, it was mostly Al's voice urging me to act before sonny-boy pulled whatever the heck it was out of his pocket. Quickly, I rolled over to my right, my left arm switching to my right and I rammed him in the throat with my elbow. His face looked like he was going to scream, but instead, he croaked and collapsed on the ground.

I faced the window. "Now, if you'd be so kind to send in someone, thank you." Then, when I'd thought that my talking-time was done, I turned back around." Oh and don't worry, I just knocked him out. He'll have a so-"

I blinked as the door was literally kicked off its hinges. A blue haired child walked into the room, followed by an all too familiar lady. Except this time, she was squeaky clean. And had glasses.

"Oh, it's you." I said, waving a hand. "Nice glasses."

"_Shut up and sit your ass down." _Growled the toddler, who had already walked over to the collapsed man, checking his vital signs.

Her tone seemed a fair enough reason to do so. "Yes m'am."

Blondie took the tipped over seat and set it straight again, sitting upon it. She smiled. "I can see you got out of there alright."

I blinked, cradling my broken arm, trying not to wince."You look far better than I did, _R__osie-pie."_

_"_You've lied about your name, _Anya_."

"Oh, but you have too. So I guess that makes us even."

"You're not a student."

"Technically, no. But you ain't a reported either."

She smirked, looking me over, just as the man had done. "I know you were after information." She then held out a hand. "My name's Oregano."

My eyebrow raised. "Sorry Lady, but to me you defiantly don't look like a fancy Italian herb."

"Stop talking around the matter!" The kid yelled, jumping onto the table, and I blinked twice when I noticed her clear pacifier. Oh goodie. "Girl, you've got _a-lot_ of explaining to do."

My eyes thinned. "Then I'd like to know which arcobaleno I'm speaking to."

"Pardon?" Orengano stuttered.

"Why should I?"

"Well, apart from me acting like a bull in a china-shop, I'd say I asked pretty nicely."

"You didn't even. You used a statement instead of a question."

My mouth curled into a small smile and I smirked. "Well _soo-rry__. _I'll try again then. Hello, what's you're name?"

The blue haired kid smirked. "Lal Mirch."

I nodded.

"Well _those files_ aren't any of your guys business."

"And of the other ones?" Oregano asked, annoyed that she wasn't getting anywhere with me. "What about those?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Nope?"

"I want to see Al."

Oregano sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand, probably a headache coming on. "What the fuck is so importa-"

"He's not just a cat, is he?" Lal tilted her head slightly upwards, and I remembered how Colonnello had told me about Lal Mirch. No-nonsense attitude, extreme fighter, a good friend. It made me consider how on earth they were changed into the size of two-year olds. "You can read minds, can't you?"

My eyebrow raised, challenging her logic, urging her to carry on.

She got my drift. "You said _thank you_ when you entered this room. Previously, just as you were, some colleagues of mine were discussing why you were here. While I remained to dash in my thoughts, one of the other colleagues defended you."

I smiled. "Don't you think I could have _heard_ you through the glass?"

She shook her head. "No, that's not possible. Through three layers of walls? I don't think so. You also was staring straight at my boss. You could've looked anywhere else, but you didn't bother to, as he was the one talking at that moment."

"I think she's bluffing." Oregano said, pointing a finger, which I glanced at with distaste and then up at her face. "She's stubborn and is making everything up! She's trying to hype us up!"

"Really?" I asked, tilting my head to the right. "Do you _really _think that? A seventeen year old girl suddenly appearing in your facilities, raiding through your papers?"_  
_

"Who's the cat?" Lal asked. "Your partner?"

"Partner? Hm...no. He would more suit a babysitter role."

A man poked his head through the open doorway. "We've got recordings on Mafia Island."

Lal looked back at me. "You were on Mafia island." She opened the files and pulled out some papers that I stole from the cabinets. "You were looking for the arcobaleno, weren't you?" She slammed her foot down on the table, creating a small dent. I winced, shifting my place in the wooden seat."Who sent you? Was it Colonnello? Did _he_ send you?"

It wasn't out of panic that I didn't answer her question. It was out of her already _knowing_ that it was Colonnello that I didn't speak.

She growled to the air and flicked out a cellphone, hitting a speed-dial that no-doubtedly was Colonnello's number and walked out of the room.

Oregano looked up at me. "So, your from America?"

"_No,_ I'm from _Australia._ Of course I'm from America. Was my accent a big enough of a hint?"

Her eyebrow twitched.

"Is the kid okay?"

"Kid?"

"Yeah, the blue bottom kid. It looked like he ran into that wall pretty hard."

"Blond hair?"

I nodded.

"Oh, that's Basil. Yeah, he broke his nose, but he'll be fine. I-"

There came a tap on the window. I leaned forward and smiled, looking back at Oregano. "Looks like your boss doesn't like me chit-chatting with you."

The look on Lal's face was priceless when she entered the room ten minutes later. Not a funny face, but one that I wouldn't ever forget anytime soon, none less. However, trying to get _my_ face to stay in a calm state was a different matter.

"You're looking for Reborn?"

I t'ched. "Blabbermouth."

"He told me that you were looking for a lead on your father."

"Oh, so now he's spreading it out to the world?!" I snapped, honestly annoyed that he told her.

"I called him. He's in Siberia, but he'll be here in two days. He's willing to listen to you."

She held out a hand. "Give me a piece of your hair. You sure as heck look and have the same demeanor as him, but I want to be safe."

I breathed through my nose and pulled out a piece of hair. "Here."

She plucked up the hair and left the room, without so much as a goodbye. Rude, much?

My arm left me hissing at the pain, and I whistled at Oregano, just as she was packing up her crap. "Hey, Ore! I wasn't kidding when I asked if my friend was okay."

"He's fine. We were about to send him to a pound or something like that."

I winced and nodded, harshly frowning at my shoes. The blood from my beating had stained the white trainers and unfortunately, my head was pulsing. My vision wasn't doing well either. It was hard to focus on certain objects, like ones that moved, or the fluorescent light above.

I was breathing heavily, clutching my broken arm, when Oregano asked kindly, mainly out of pity rather than kindness, to get someone to tend to my arm.

"Sure." I said after a minute.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**~* OMAKE *~**

In the middle of the night, the CEDEF headquarters was broken into, an alarm rung through the building, set off in the southern part. Turmeric was a patient man, but waking him up at night was one of the worst things you could possibly do to the guy. He had been called to the head office.

"Hey, what's happening?"

"Break in." One of his underlings replied, nodding his head towards a backpack that was placed on the table, along with some clothes and boots. They looked similar to the recent french fashion trend that the teens were into today. "Caught the kid after she took out more than two dozen of the men. All injured but nobody killed. Drained them of their energy apparently."

"Good grief." He shook his head and slipped on the plastic gloves that were supplied routinely. Then, he walked patiently to the workbench and opened the first zip on the bag.

'SH-" He was barely able to spit out a swear when suddenly a black cat jumped out, claws out and scratching him along with everyone else in the room.

It was just too fucking early for this kind of trauma.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**No kidding, I woke up around one o'clock in the morning with a burst of crea-fucking-tivity. I tripped over everything in my room for you guys,just to write my ideas down. For once, I now know how the hell I'm going to end the story and almost everything in between! You guys will laugh and cry and scream 'god damn you Verdigurl, why the hell did you have to write that!' and I will be ecstatic just for writing that sort of stuff. **

**Oh, and also, I'm on the look-out for a BETA reader. I've asked a couple of folks, but I haven't heard anything back from them yet, so speak up now if you want the position! *Cough cough* It would be greatly appreciated.**

**As usual, thank you to everyone who's supported this story. Thank you for following and faving!**

**And follow me on Tumblr! My URL's alpineamaranth**

**Replies:**

**Leolnuyuka: Yeah, that bit was pretty fun to write because it's one of those things that I wouldn't do myself personally, but would in my head! ;) Thanks for reviewin' hun.**

**Viper'sgirl: Oh yeah, I have them constantly. I even had one last night where I was like at a convention, and then all of a sudden, I heard all of these Daleks and I shat myself. :D**

**The captian who's too lazy to login ;) : Yup, I've taken that into consideration and _hopefully, _I'll find someone soon. And it's nice to hear you say something like that, gives me a real confidence boost. Thanks for always reviewing.**

**Ausumist: (Or AWE-SAM-MEST, if you hear me say it with my real , I hope you guys never do, it's horrible.) - I think you'll especially lve it later on if you really think that. :) Gosh, you and captian stalking me, tehe. I can't wait to hear from you guys.**

**shanagi95: Does this answer your question?**

**Thanks guys for reading and I'll check in with the next chapter soon.**

**-Satan, *cough-Verdigurl-cough* out!**


	8. Expectations

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 8: Expectations**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: Mashup-Germany - The day the music died]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

"What?" I repeated, for probably the third time today. I hadn't been having the best of mornings, mainly because that Lal toddler had kept dragging me up at impossibly insane hours for something like training, but she referred to it as a light fitness due to the summer month being in its highest peak. The heavy blizzards that were battering Sibera's borders had delayed Reborn's arrival, but I'd been told that he would arrive soon. What was weirder was that instead of looking forward to it, I wanted nothing more than to put it off.

Basil blinked above the steam that rose from his morning coffee, which I found crazy. It was in the middle of a _sweltering _summer and he was drinking a _hot __drink. _It was either the fact that he was able to do that without a qualm, or that they were letting a fourteen year old to drink the stuff. (Not that I personally would. I've always loved the smell, but it tasted so bitter.)

He grinned. "Thou isn't listening, arth thou? I asked how many arceballeno has thou met already?'

"Um," I sighed, counting on my fingers, luckily remembering that Lal didn't consider herself to be one. " Colonnello and Skull. So, two I remember Colonnello saying something about seven...or maybe some other number, I'm not sure..."

"Three?" He repeated, smiling. The kid had seemed to have taken a liking to me. "That's a lot!"

I shrugged. "It's not like I care to record things like that. They're nice and all, but I'd rather sit with Al and blob out on a couch somewhere cool." I finished the bowl of cereal with on big gulp, my mouth full of milk. "Preferably somewhere not so hot."

"Thou does not like the weather here?"

"No. Actually, that's not quite true. I do like the sun, but being sizzled like an egg isn't what I'd rather do."

Basil nodded, quite interested in what I had to say about life and loathes. Before, I had asked if he had been out of the country. He replied, _yes, _to which he then proceeded to reply the same word in several languages. Most of them I could pick up on, except for a small handful. Although, the gist of them were European. Not a lot of pacific ones either.

"Good morning." Lal stated, as she flew into the room, kicking the poor child right in the cheek, his coffee flying into the wall. Colonnello followed and for once, was without his rifle.

"Careful," I urged. "There's no need to be violent at this time of morning."

"Are you kidding, there's always a time to be violent!" She replied. Then, a call on her headset distracted her as I smiled, thinking of my training.

Basil pouted, getting up off of the ground, rubbing his cheek. Aw, poor thing. That'll leave a bruise, if she's anything like Colonnello. "That wasn't necessary!"

I smirked, thinking of the small, annoying yellow blob who smiled across the room. He had arrived yesterday , with a smirk on his face. And then I shot him a look that was like _'you annoying little sh-, I'm going to strangle you.'_ Then the rest of the day consisted of me chasing him and him laughing triumphantly.

"Kora! Are you ready!?"

"It's hard to say whether the butterflies in my stomach are from the excitement or from that funky meat we had last night." I looked at Al." I don't know whether to punch someone or to jump out a window."

_"Oh yeah, you're gonna do fine like a country wine kiddo."_

"Gee, thanks Al. It's nice to know that you're here for me."

_"You mean, you ain't never had a friend like me?"_

I clapped my hands over my ears and grumbled. "Stop."

"What did thou say?" Basil asked, looking awkwardly at Al, probably thinking of possible reasons. "Did he say something offensive?"

"He said _meow meow mow mow._ Translated, it would be a phrase from a kid's movie. And yes, he does that a lot, so be thankful you can't hear him blubbering away."

_"That's not very nice."_

"I don't think it's occurred to you yet Al, but I'm a cold heartless bitch set on destroying the world." I looked over to Basil and shook my head whispering," I'm not."

Lal clicked off of her headset and the butterflies that were stirring heightened slightly. "That was him."

I nodded. _Well, who else were we expecting?_

"He's left the airport and is in a taxi. I'll go to meet him first, but I sorely suggest that you stay put for the moment. Reborn doesn't take lightly to meeting new people."

"Yes m'am." I replied, sniffing.

I felt like throwing up.

* * *

**~o0o~ **

* * *

_"Stop that." My mother had said, wiping paint off of my cheek. I grunted and unconsciously pulled my head away, not liking how close my mother was getting to me, how she scrutiny cleaned everything, even myself._

_"Why are you doing this Momma?" I asked, my younger self knowing that something was off. She'd fussed over little, tiny things and even tried cooking a full course meal. Now, this is something she struggled with, as do I, and would never do if she had the choice. "We're not even going anywhere today! Not even to the zoo! Can we go there soon? I wanna see some lions!"_

_"We're having a very important guest over. So you behave, you hear? No screaming, throwing tantrums or annoying him. And don't be a smart-ass."_

_"And don't be a smart-ass." I mimicked and she smacked me over my head._

_"OW!"_

_"I mean it Phillipa!"_

_"Owow...fine!"_

_She brushed herself off. "Good, n-"_

_DING-DONG!_

_Mother raised her hand to her mouth. "Oh god, he's here already." _

_"Well go on." I muttered, clutching at my head. "Go greet you boyfriend."_

_"How did you...?" She asked, turning back to me and then stopped mid-question. "Remember what I said."_

_I nodded sternly._

_She left the room and I poked out my tongue._

_Mother came back into the room, followed by the man that she had had on her mind for the past couple of months. My small eyes squinted, and like trees, I hid between her legs, shielding myself. My brain theorized that it was him that was responsible for the parasite growing inside of mother. _

_So I did what I did best, when Mother told me to say hello to her new boyfriend._

_I kicked his shin and ran to my room._

_"What's wrong Philly?" My Mother asked later, when the man had disappeared into another room. "Why are you upset honey..?"_

_"He's my brothers daddy." I said, more as a statement than a question. I'd already knew this fact. She didn't need to tell me or explain the mechanics. I already knew how things worked. I was forced to hear everything, whether I wanted to or not. "I don't need one! I've never had one, so why should I need one now?! I'll be fine on my own!"_

_"Oh baby..." My Mother cooed sadly, scooping me up into a ball. "Nobody could replace your daddy..."_

_I pouted. That's not what I meant._

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**~o0o~**

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**3rd Person**

**Lal's POV**

Lal's small formed hopped out of the black sedan in a quick swooping motion, landing on the concrete softly. It had taken her ages to get used to her body again. Only those who had their own bodies turned into small children version of themselves knew how physically and mentally painful and frustrating it was to get used to them. Lal was one of the first to accept her new body, but even now, she struggled sometimes.

Though she would never show that to anybody. To show it would mean her flaws would be in the light of everyone's view.

No, she wouldn't want that to happen.

"That's cold."

"I know." Reborn replied, his eyes cover in a black shade caused by his fedora. The weather today had cleared up, the clouds that had threatened the nice blue sky had disappeared, leaving no sign of being there before. "But it's true."

"That's not fair on her." Lal said, pointing an accusing finger into Reborn's shirt. "For once in your life, don't be an narcissistic asshole."

"I was born an asshole Lal." He said, shrugging as if it didn't matter. "I'm not the father type and I never will be. If she's looking for compensation for a shitty mother, she's out of luck."

Lal shook her head as the guard opened the door to the back of the headquarters. Since Phillipa's break-in, they beefed up the security, making more beneficial locks on doors that _can't_ be picked.

However, Lal knew, that wouldn't stop her from trying.

"Do you hear yourself now Reborn? Do you hear how selfish that sounded? Yeah sure, the kid's annoying and she's forever talking to that cat of hers in-front of everybody else, but she's not bad. She's incredibly smart and so much like you."

"I don't want that."

"Of course you don't." Lal shook her head on the start of each word. "All you want is a good red wine, a chaotic battlefield and lots and lots of women." She stopped at a door. "Play nicely."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, smirking. "I always play nicely."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door to find an empty table. Only Basil, Colonnello and Al, Phillipa's annoying cat were present. The seat that she had been before had flipped over and lying on its side.

"Where is she?" Lal asked.

Basil frowned with concern. Colonnello t'ched when he saw Reborn. In his mind, he had a good idea what it was about. It wasn't a secret that Phillipa could hear people's thoughts, along with any animal or plant she liked. He learned that early on, when they were in a fight and she'd sassed back at him about a situation he had with Lal. Needless to say, he beaten her up.

"T'ch. She stormed out without telling. If she's anything like you Reborn, she is kora, she already knew what you were thinking."

He shook his head again. "I don't want to hear that crap."

"Which way did she go?"

"Out the front." Iemitsu said as he walked into the already crowded room, looking for his morning coffee. The yelling had woken him up, darn it. "Looks like she's going for a long walk."

"Doubt it." Lal muttered. Then, she pushed Reborn. "Go on, get after her!"

Reborn pushed her back. "Idiot, I don't even know what she looks like!"

"Just follow your ego bastard and you'll find her!"

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I don't know how, but I found myself in a park, sitting on a bench beside a large duck pond. Personally, I don't remember getting there but only feeling a blistering anger and an immense frustration on myself.

I took it out on my red ballet flats.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" I yelled, throwing my left shoe as far as I could.

It ended up in the lake, almost hitting one of those black geese. Not as vicious as a white one, but a geese no-less. I shook my head, resisting the urge to kick something. That would only break a couple of toes, if I kicked something hard. "This isn't fair."

I threw my other one just as far and let out a massive sigh, coughing slightly. It had been my original plan to find him, along with my mothers' killer. In a sulk, I sat my ass down on the bench and crossed my arms, leaning my head on the top of the back of the bench.

I would have liked to spend the rest of my day there. The sun was out and my skin was absorbing as much energy as it could.

"You know, if you sat there long enough in that position, you're bound to get your throat slit,"

Instantly, I set up my barrier. I sniffed and craned my head.

"I know you."

"Yes, apparently, I'm your father."

My heart faltered when he spoke of the 'f' word, but the voice told me not to show any emotion in this type of situation. From what I'd heard from several conversations, he was the world's greatest hitman and a ladies man. I didn't expect any emotion out of this baby with an orange striped fedora.

"So I'm told." I replied, eyeing him. Mother always said I got my hair from him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk, idiot. What else would I be doing here?"

I shook my head. "No, no. From what heard, I'm guessing you didn't come willingly. Was it Lal? Because I don't think Colonnello has much authority over you."

"So what if I was?" He shrugged and sat down on the seat next to me. "I'm here now. Put your shield down and stop acting irrationally."

I did so, but not with a happy heart. "It wasn't put up irrationally. Since it's my first time meeting you, someone who is hesitant and unwelcome of me, it's out of protection."

"Fair enough." He looked down."What on earth happened to shoes?"

"I condemned then to a watery death."

He smirked. "You had a tanty and threw them in the lake."

"No, they were stolen by the _evil geese_ that are _bent_ on _destroying_ humanity by _stealing _all of our shoes." I rolled my eyes. "What did you _think _had happened to them?"

"Do I detect a Ms Sarcastic?" He took of his hat. The small, green lizard that was on in bounced onto his lap and he began to stroke it. "So like your mother. And his name's Leon."

Right then, I faced him. It was because of the word 'mother' that set me off. I don't know why I did what next, but I can say that it wasn't my logic speaking. "I don't know what the deal was with you and my mother. Frankly, I don't care whether it was a long ride of a fucking one night stand. She never told me much about you, so growing up, I really didn't care. Even now I still have that resentment of everybody."

He had his arms crossed, no longer patting the lizard called Leon. "What made you change?"

"Things _happened_ in the past few months. Things I can't explain fully and never want to think about. Things that imagined I would have to do." I looked over at him." And it didn't _occur_ to me to find you but someone else told me that it was a good idea. _Ha._ Then I thought that if I _did_ manage to find you, maybe I could get through this _thing,_ but I _can't._" I grimace, now looking out at the ducks. I didn't want to look at his face anymore. Mother dying, that was one of the hardest things I've had to face. But I couldn't say that out loud. I had neither the heart nor the courage to. "So, now that you've confronted me, say something. I'm pleading for you to whisper, or speak at least something. But _please." _I paused. "Please don't sit there with a blank mind. I don't know what would happen to me if you did."

The brim of his fedora shades his already black eyes, making it impossible for me to see his face. I pick up a few small words, bits of a sentence but nothing to really put together to make something legible.

"Reborn!"

I turned to look behind my back, from where the voice had come from. A teenager, a female one, was steadily approaching us, her rose-shaded hair swaying with each step. Possibly, she was maybe a little older than Basil by a couple of years. The closer she got, the more her face developed from a happy one into a ruthless one.

For a second, I think I caught a sight coming from the right.

"Who are you!" She shouted in a threatening voice, reaching for something in her backpack. "What are you doing with _my Reborn!?"_

_"Your Reborn?" _I repeated, getting out of my seat.

"_Don't talk to him that way!" _She screeched.

"Duck!" Reborn said quickly, bending down behind the bench. I followed swiftly, the flying projectile barely missing my head, hitting the bench. Just as fast as it had been thrown, the substance had burned through the bench, creating a massive hole.

I sniffed the air and pouted for a moment. "Pizza? That's your weapon?"

"Bianchi, stop." Reborn ordered, and hesitantly, she complied with a pouted lip.

"Nice to meet you!" I called, even before Reborn had begun his introduction of her. He punched the side of my arm and I groaned. "Ow!"

"You have to wait till I say it's okay, got it?" He put his fedora back on and Leon climbed onto his shoulder. "You can't keep reading people's minds without them getting severely confused. That especially counts for the slow ones."

"Reborn!" Bianchi shouted. "This isn't fair! I thought we were in love!"

"Really?" I glanced at Reborn." I don't know who's the child predator in this situation."

"You are mistaken Phillipa, as are you Bianchi." He nodded towards me. 'Bianchi, this is Phillipa, a _close_ family member of mine. Phillipa, this is my admirer, Bianchi. She's training to be an assassin."

"A _deadly_ assassin!" She added, now with a smile on her face. "I see that you are not competing for my Reborn's love, so I shall treat you as an ally!"

_And I will treat you as another weirdo, _I thought sourly, before getting another swift glare from Reborn. "And you will be a good friend!"

She clapped and then indicated to a car that was in the parking lot. "Come Quickly my love, Phillipa! Let's go back to the headquarters! I'll make lunch!"

"I hope you have a tough stomach." Reborn whispered and I laughed unsteadily.

"I'm sure it's not horrible."

His eyes thinned. "Don't take Bianchi's cooking lightly, it's deadly."

We got into the car. Bianchi sat in the front with Reborn on her lap and the seat-belt around them both. I sat in the back alone, while a driver handled the car. It was when I started to stare blankly out of the window when I heard another thought.

_"We haven't finished our conversation Phillipa."_

I rolled my eyes. "_No, we haven't. There's still so much I want to talk about."_

_"Yes, we'll talk more back at Iemitsu's place. About your life and your cat."_

_"Then I get to pat Leon."_

_"You can but I wouldn't suggest it. He'll bite you._

I smirked. "_What do you think of me now?"_

Even from the back seat, I could feel a smile. _"You're everything I expected you to be. And possibly more, judging by your attitude."_

In the background, Leon purred happily while I continued to frown at a chain of thoughts that he didn't answer.

A courtesy and annoying.

I wouldn't forgive him for a while.

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**~o0o~**

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**I'm so sorry that this so long to upload. I wasn't too sure how to go around this sort of thing. (also SCHOOL, LIFE, SHERLOCK, EXAMS, TROUBLES, EXCHANGE STUDENTS, BLAHBLAHBLAH) That sort of thing. Still looking for a BETA reader, if anyone's keen. *Cough-cough***

**Replies:**

**Leolnuyuka: Hm, yes, Al is one talented cat I don't think I could accomplish half of the things he can do. Thanks for always reviewing first. I do continue to read your story, as it seems in my inbox nearly every day ;) *Winks***

**ausumist: Gee, thank you! You're makin' me blush :D**

**Guest: Thank you! Thanks for reading!**

**Ooly: Thank you so much! Here you go then, more Al!**

**Shanagi95: Good.**

**Ps - I've made a picture for you guys of Phillipa and the Arcaballeno (and Al.) Check it out if you want. It's on my Deviantart page, check my profile page for a link. ( verdigurl. /art/ Sorry-389331104?q= gallery%3A Verdigurl&qo= 0) Just get rid of the spaces.**

**It's exam time, so I'm sorry if it gets a little erratic this term.**

**-Verdigurl**


	9. The next few months

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 9: The next few months**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to:Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead]**

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**~o0o~**

* * *

Reborn and I talked a bit more after that. We talked about several things, mainly about me and a little from him. I didn't bother to speak about mother again to his face, neither did I want to think about her. And as much as I'd like to learn about what she was like before I was born, I felt that it would be sort of impolite. I could feel his apprehensiveness and vise versa, I knew he could tell how nervous I was about all of this. Meeting new people, making friends and _'playing nicely with others'_ have all been points that have always turned up in the improvement section of my report card. But getting social and fooling people with a sense of realness was all part of the process of who I was becoming and it scared me a little. Being devious was in my blood, but never had I had to use it in such scenes like this. Some of the things he said made sense. He talked to animals too as well as he did with humans. The reason why only we could communicate together, he guessed, was because of our skills. It seemed simple, when I thought about it. You get two frequencies continuously processing information which end up collecting the same frequencies as theirs, it would be easy to process information.

And then, he spoke of my mother in a way that _really_ got under my skin. There's not a lot in this life that irks me that much, so it takes something to poke me in the right place to feel an emotion like that.

_"Truth is Phillipa, I knew you existed. And it bothered me that your mother ran away from Italy to America without telling me upfront, or even calling me. 'So selfish' of her, I thought at the time. That was all she ever thought about. Herself and how she was going to get to the next step in life. She left with her father's car, a roll of money and stolen papers. You probably don't know how hard it was to track her down."_

In truth, this was the most that I picked up from him with my mind in one go because he projected it so clear.

When actually, it came out of his mouth like:

"She was a strange woman."

And I replied with a nod. It was because not only did I agree with that statement but I, at the time, didn't think I could trust my own mouth to say the right thing.

There were things that bugged me about the statement.

One-) He knew that I existed. Sure, we may have been hard to find, but come on! The world's greatest hitman, apparently you are not!

Two-) The fact that my mother ran away. This statement hurt me a lot but I knew that it was very true. Even so, she ran away from all the pain and the violence because she didn't want me or my brother to get hurt in a world where she came to find comfortable. I guess she depended on me a lot to keep all three of us in line when she left my brother's father. With words, I couldn't put my heart into my mouth. And, yeah, she wasn't winning any awards for the mother of the year, but she was mine. We gave up a lot of things to keep the ones we love safe, even if it meant hurting others.

Right then I felt we connected a little more.

We both blamed her for a lot of things.

* * *

** ~o0o~ **

* * *

Like I said before, my social skills really did need some work. Nervous as I'd get, my hands would sweat and puff up like prunes. I'd breathe through my nose and avoid all possible eye contact, giving signs of my previous introvert life.

I found myself sitting in the head of the CEDEF's office, just before lunch was about to set in. The man, I found, was a sturdy one. Always was in a suit of orange suit and sharp eyes that focused on everything they see. A strange man but a strong leader. In the few times that I had met him face to face, he had come off as a little unprofessional and possibly even a happily joking person.

His train of thought really confused me.

"Is this what you always do?"

I turned to look at the open door behind me, which Iemitsu had stepped through and was now closing shut. He had a slight smile and today was actually wearing a suit. He closed the wooden door shut and walked calmly over to his desk. I was sitting in a comfortable seat adjacent to it.

He nodded, when I kept staring at him. "This, breaking into people's offices and waiting for them, tracking people down? Those actions could be considered borderline stalkerish."

I held up the lock picking tools that were in my pocket. "Trust me, I'm no stalker and it's not hard to break into locks. I've seen my mother do it and she's the quickest I've seen." I placed them back in their place. "But, that's not why I'm here, Mr Sawada."

"Using honorifics now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Qual è il vostro giapponese?"

"Uh," I paused. "Alright. It's not major or anything like my English or Italian skills, but I'm alright. Enough to get by. I was always pressured into following, if not, at least dabbling into languages when I was in high school." I shrugged. "My mother liked cultures."

"Okay." He replied in English, leaning on his desk. "What's up?"

With the pile of papers in my hands, I handed them out in the air, just holding them there as he stared at them.

He looked around them to look at me in the face. "You're gonna have to explain to me more. What are these?"

"I'm sorry." I said uncontrollably. "Sorry. These, these are all of my papers and information. Like a CV."

"So, in short, you're looking for a job."

My lungs heaved out a breath I didn't realize I had held in. "I've never had one. My family, we were always travelling."

'Why would you think that I'd give you one?" He asked, taking the papers.

I shrugged. "I know you probably won't. I'm not as fit or as smart as some of your men. But, I could be like a secretary! O-or, you know, just doing things around here..." I sighed, running out of really good reasons. "Look, I'm stumped. Now that I've met my father, I feel like I should actually do something with my life now. It's hard to put into words what I'd like to accomplish. I want a future that I know will lead me places. I think that staying in the Mafia business will be the best option for my future."

He rolled a hand, gesturing me to go on.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to propose you a deal."

"Honey, selling your soul won't work on a guy like me."

I smirked. "I wasn't thinking anything of the sort."

"Go on."

"Train me. I've seen what you guys can do. That kid, Basil, he's a machine!"

"You know, he could be considered a teenager."

"He's younger than me." Was my explanation. "And from what I've heard from Reborn, he trusts Lal. From a guy like him, that's a big deal."

"It is."

"Please lend me your knowledge." I asked. "I want to learn things. I want to be able to stand up for something and not just be a single soldier standing for a cause. For the past months, I've fought really hard for something that I didn't know if it was possible." I nodded at what I truly thought and stuck out a firm, laid-out palm. "I want to fight. There's nothing left for me back in America."

Suffice to say, I was then ushered out the door giving him time to 'think.'

Two days later, he accepted my offer, on a couple of conditions. One was to sort out the paperwork annually, since that was what I originally stole.

How blissfully ironic.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Out of everything my mother had said, yelled, forced me to think about, I will always remember the thing she always told me when I would go off to an exam.

She didn't care whether I passed or failed.

Well, that wasn't true. She just didn't show her disappointment or frustration, that's all.

Her advice was that if you were gonna do a job, a task, or anything really, do it properly the first time round.

It's that advice that had gotten me out of more trouble than I'd like to admit.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

The second condition was that I should have a roommate. Iemitsu said that it was because I need socializing more with the company. Quickly, in my head, I called bullshit on that one, writing it off as another way of keeping an eye on the weird chick.

I didn't know much about what it would be like to have a roommate at college was like, or boarding school, or anything like that. My family always had a separate rooms for everyone. Mind you, there were random times when my brother got afraid of the dark and hugged me till the lights in his head went out. But that was okay.

And as it turned out, Basil was slightly afraid of the dark too.

Well, not exactly afraid of the dark. More like the things that bangs against your bedroom window, or the animals that scratches the walls, evilly stealing any sleep away.

That kind of afraid.

I personally didn't give a crap to whether a mouse ran into our room, because Al can take care of the sucker.

Basil...not so much. It wasn't that he screamed or anything but rather skirted around it.

And for a while, he was afraid of me. I guessed it was because of what I did to him, but after a few sparring sessions, things turned out okay. He hadn't looked me in the eyes when talking, so I told him to man up. Rudely, yes, but it worked.

So, after this happening and after Al had gotten an early lunch of mouse chowder, the little leech, I took Basil's hand. I'd decided that since the weather had been pretty merciful, not too hot and not too cold, that it would be okay to take a walk through the park, as a shortcut to the shops.

(I needed to do things anyway.)

(And yes, my shoes are still in the lake, probably covered in duck poo.)

Lovely.

"What is that in thy hand?" Basil asked, as we passed into the park. The gardeners had done quite a nice job here. In the places that I used to live in, there weren't a lot of good looking parks. Very few had pretty looking flowers and the majority had a lot of litter. And stray cats. Stray cats that liked tuna and the smell of my shoes.

I looked at the cello-taped package, bound for America. I thought for a moment and then smiled slightly.

"A bomb."

"A bomb?"

Al smirked and repeated in a childish tone. _"A bomb! A bomb!"_

I rolled my eyes. At who, I was still unsure of, but both of them probably deserved it. "To whom, I wonder?"

We passed some female joggers in skin tight shorts, hair crackling back down once it had bounced up off their backs, repeating in an inadvertently seducing manner. Of course, that got the attention of my never-skittish critic, who cracked a one-liner about hair and sports tape. "I wonder that too and if it will get to it's intended recipient. And I hope that anybody who sees me packaging this keeps in their good minds to remain silent."

He sniffed, his eyes passing over a gelato stand quickly.

"I started when I was five." He said abruptly.

"Started what?"

"What do thou think? This!" Basil outspread his arms and brought them behind his blond mop of head, gazing almost happily at the sky, in a way when a person reminisces on memories. "My earliest memory is of Iemitsu making me take a bath."

I giggled at the thought of the staunch, blond haired boar washing a small child, thinking that if I'd met him when he was that young and that if it was me that had to bathe him, I'd bet a good ten bucks that he was a splasher.

"At least it's not like mine where I liked to go on the really cool big kid's slide."

"Liked? What happened to thou?" He pouted for a minute and then gasped. "Nothing bad, I hope!"

"One day I ended up sitting there too long and this kid, he was a bit chubby in the cheeks from baby fat, no doubt, pushed me off."

_"Harsh."_ Al muttered, his little kitty paws plodded on the concrete._ "Hope he died a dessert related death."_

"Sorry, go on with what you were going to say Basil."

"I didn't know my parents. Iemitsu found me on a mission and I've been with him ever since."

"Must be hard then."

He shrugged. "No. It's not. I'm actually jealous of thee."

"Why is that? Doesn't family in the Mafia world mean just a bigger burden, more to lose, that sort of thing?"

"Thou knows who you are. Thou hast Reborn-sama as a father. Thou hast had the privilege of knowing your family." He smiled lightly, looking up at me. "Thou art very lucky, Phillipa-chan."

I bit my lip. "I guess I am, in a way. I'm thankful I knew my family. Before all of this, I did all I could for them."

"And now?" He asked.

"I'm not too sure." I replied, glancing at Al. "But I'm sure things will be fine as long as I keep a level head. As long as I do that, my powers won't go as crazy."

He winced, covering it up with a smile. "I hope so!"

Too bad for me, that wasn't what he was really thinking.

Basil was thinking that I should keep my secrets to myself, like everybody else.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I trained with Basil and Lal for months on end, practicing on keeping my endurance up and focus sharp. Every time I would doze off,_ bang!_ Every time I would groan, even in my head,_ bang!_

Lal was seriously one tough bitch.

I honestly didn't know what I was getting myself into when I had asked Iemitsu. I trained for days on end, without taking day-off breaks, training both inside and outside. It was in the rain that I liked to train the most. The ground underneath me would be drenched and unstable. So when I hit the ground, sopping wet, I was just as determined as my opponent to get up. Everything I did, all I ever did was to help my concentration. And while I got tougher my barrier didn't get any better. It kept snapping at everything and everyone and even began to sound like it was moaning at some points.

And, not always, did I listen to my mother's advice. I should've, when I look back now.

Two more months passed rather slowly, when I received a phone message from Reborn. Since meeting him for the first time, I'd only talked to him two other times. Most of his days were spent somewhere else in Italy, hunting down people. Family business, he said.

The message ordered me to drive to an address, not too far out of Florence, about an hour north. I borrowed one of the company cars and travelled there only when Lal had given me the okay. But that was only after calling Reborn to confirm it.

Al came with me. He found his usual spot in the Italian sun and after a while, I got this reminiscent feeling in my gut. The smell of chicken nuggets was still in my mind.

_"There, what's that?"_ He asked, as the dashboard clock flickered past four thirty-two.

"That looks like the place." I said, remembering the description on the message Reborn had left in my voicemail. Not at all what I was expecting, but that happens a lot these days, you know?

I'm still expecting a surprise attack from those geese.

_"Human."_

"What, feline?"

_"You know you just drove right past it?"_ He asked, looking back at it. _"You know, the thing you refer to as a house? Or have your brain cells dwindled down to the point where evolution can begin walking backwards?"_

"I know." I said, parking the car in a nearby alleyway. He followed me out and down the path I went. Through one bushy part, much to Al's delight, and we had reached the security wall, twenty minutes of jogging later.

_"Good job, idiot. Now how are we gonna get there?"_

"Reborn said not to take the front exit. So, in light of the situation, I'd say I'm being rather creative."

I waited to check the movements of the patrolling guards. Silently, I took two down by knocking them out, while Al nibbled at their shoelaces. I made sure to place them somewhere that wasn't too noticeable.

As Al finished with his sudden foot fetish, I took of the sweater that I was wearing and chucked it onto the barbed wired-fence that surrounded the actual wall. Then, after pleading to Al to behave, I shoved him on my shoulder and managed to scale the fence, with only a tiny scrape on my palm.

_"Ready Dorothy?"_

I snorted and gripped onto the brick wall. "Let's do this Toto."

* * *

** ~o0o~**

* * *

When I landed on the other side, I found myself in a bush. Not a large bush, mind you, but one that just covered my butt to act like a landing pad.

Rather nice, but not what I was going after.

_"Get up you dwindling idiot! Hide quickly!"_

"Oh, shoot!" I picked myself up and scrambled up the closest tree, just as there were voices nearing. Thank god I had Al here, otherwise Reborn might kick my ass for being a big idiot who can't stealth properly.

Al mewed quietly as I spotted a blond fellow, possibly a year or two older than me running out into the garden area, followed by none other than Reborn, who was holding the mallet version of Leon. Who, by the way, still creeps me out.

"Come back here, Pipsqueak-Dino!" Reborn squeaked, chasing the poor man, who stumbled, trying to get away from him.

Out of pity, I said. "I'm here."

Reborn looked up at the tree and Leon transformed back into his normal self, his curly tail bouncing. "You're late."

"But only by twenty minutes." I countered, landing on the ground. The boy gasped when I appeared, not only surprised, but flabbergasted too, as his mouth was open but no apparent words were coming out.

"H-How d-did you get past the guards!?" He managed to blurt out, standing up now. He was quite tall. I think I reached up to his neck, if I wanted to measure.

"Guards?" I asked. "Dunno. I didn't see any."

"B-"

"Dino." Reborn said, jumping on to his head and whacking his ears." Stop stuttering. I want you to meet Phillipa. Starting from today, She'll be your new sparring partner."

* * *

** ~o0o~**

* * *

** Hey guys, long time no read!**

**Sorry for the uber-long-ass wait. School stuff. Regardless, I'm happy to say that I did rather well, for a chick that sucks at studying. :D That and I kicked myself to get back 'on the horse' for the story, so yeah. I'm super sorry.**

**Replies:**

**Ausumist: I agree with your statement. It's a reasonable opinion and by no means is it nasty. (I've had a lot worse.) When I'm done, I'll try and revamp it without changing it too much.**

**GreenDrkness: I love him too. ;D Mostly everyone does. Thanks for reading!**

**shanagi95: Maybe. Maybe not but my lips are shut like a cold case honey, so I'm not gonna tell. ;D**

**purpleicecrystals(1): Really? *Laughs akwardly* Well, actually, it's also a dance and a name for some kind of sauce I was hungry at the time, with no food in the house. So, I resorted to the internet to feed my eyes.**

**purpleicecrystals (2): Nyahahaha. He is the best. Can wait to write more about him in the future.**

**Viper's Girl: Same here. I tried it once and had a horrible taste in my mouth for the rest of the day. Mainly, I prefer hot chocolates. :D**

**Captian Dr Pepper: Thank you for saying that. I really hope she does well and I'm trying super hard to concentrate on the characterization in my story. I think the reason I tripped was just because of a lack of paying attention. I have a tendency to skip one or two episodes so I can finish something quickly. *Bad habit, I know.* And I hope you enjoy the ending because it woke me up in the middle of the night. I have something planned that I know no-one will expect.**

**Leolnuyuka: NONONO PLEASE DON'T CRY I STILL LOVE YOU. I've never seen a Khol's advertisement, so I wouldn't know how those pants ended up. But I'll say thanks anyway, and send you a hug.**

**Thanks for all of your reviews and follows and faves.**

**Thanks to My new BETA reader, RikaRenaH42, who's awesome as fudge!**

**Thanks if you're still reading.**

**And a special thank you Hibakeru for adding this to the 'Feels Like It' community!**

**-Verdigurl**


	10. Dino

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 10: Dino**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to: B1A4 - Good Night Baby]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

Never in my almost adult life have I ever met a bigger klutz than that of Dino. Nor in my short life span have I met a completely graceful person, so if Reborn is what you would consider 'perfect', don't tell him I thought that; he would definitely be at the other end of the walking spectrum. According to Reborn, he apparently had improved slightly in that area. That still surprised me in the fact that he still sucked at carrying himself and that Reborn had just given him a sort of compliment, even if it wasn't one that was admitted directly to Dino's face. From what I've gathered from the blonde's brain, Reborn had been training him for a good number of years. That his father wasn't in the best of health and that he found Reborn cool and frightening at the same time.

Reborn had briefly discussed the idea of sparring with him on the three minute message he left me. I was a bit hesitant as I've said before, people and me don't mix. Like, at all.

Which led him to the conclusion that I would be perfectly fine with him.

Bastard.

"W-What?" Dino asked, his hand shaking slightly. "Reborn!"

Al jumped to the ground and sat at my feet. "Aw, he's as awkward as a guy speaking with flashcards! How utterly adorable! And pitiful. And laughable. And -"

To get him to stop, I kicked him lightly with my foot.

"This is my decision, Pipsqueak Dino. I've noticed your performance dropping, so I called someone to help me. You two losers will do just fine."

"That _someone_ is standing right here, Reborn." I said slowly, lacing sarcasm everywhere till it turned into a sargassum. "And I don't appreciate you randomly asking me to do something before you've talked it over with me."

He shrugged, not really caring. "You would have said no if I did that."

"Hell yeah I would have." I nodded and Dino sighed, looking at the ground while rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't really want a strange girl around, nor all of this yelling. He was hungry. "With good reason too."

"A sucky reason." He countered. "Don't worry, your awkwardness will fit in with his klutziness."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Dino protested. He stamped his foot and I looked at it in disbelief. This was a guy that was meant to be the head of a rather wealthy and famous mafia family and he had the inclination that it was okay to act like a toddler? "And anyway, what use would she be, I can't hit a girl?! And I don't need a sparring partner, I thought you told me I was almost ready!"

Can't hit a girl? What is he, a wimp?

Once hearing that complaint, Reborn stepped back and without a qualm, waved a hand in Dino's direction; freely adding in his mind that certainly he wouldn't hold back from kicking him to Mars.

I grinned widely and stepped quickly, automatically sending a flying kick his way while he was still comparing on his morals. Quicker than I had anticipated him to, he ducked and reached for my leg. I stepped off on my other foot and threw my kicking foot down, hitting his shoulder.

As I turned on that foot, I slinked behind his body and wrapped my arms around his waist, my left hand grabbing onto my right wrist.

Dino groaned, panicking. His hands went to my arms, and with his weight, he tried to lean forward. "L-Let me go!"

At this rate, if I tried to lean back, I would be outweighed. So, in light of the situation, I let my grip go and watched him fall.

And I would have laughed happily at his defeat, if he had let go of my arms. The momentum was so quick that I didn't react quick enough. My voice made a terrible heaving release when I landed on his back. He squeaked, his hands letting go.

As I sat on his back, recovering, I heard Al chuckle happily.

_"Way to make it with the men, Philly. You're a real casanova."_

"Oh shut up Al." I said after frowning, and then, noticed the tattoos spiraling up Dino's arm. "Hey, nice ink."

"You're getting too wound up Phillipa." Reborn said, smirking. "Letting yourself be taken down that easily."

My eyebrow raised and I begun to get the sinking feeling that Reborn had planned for me to get some training as well and not only Dino. But I didn't get the chance to ask him, as Dino turned his head to the left, wiping his blonde mane away from his eyes.

"Ah…"

I sniffed, and then realised what he wanted. "Oh. Oh! Sorry!"

Quickly, I got up and Al walked to his place by my side. Dino stumbled back to his feet and sighed heavily.

He patter the dirt off his pants and decided to at least introduce himself, to find out who I really was. "My name is Dino Cavallone, next head."

I gulped at his outstretched hand and stole a passing glance at Reborn, who nodded, thinking about Dino's actions.

My hand met his and I smiled cheekily. "Please to meet ya' Dino. I'm Phillipa Marsh, Daughter of Reborn."

I didn't even have to read his mind to know that he wasn't exactly happy to meet me. Rather shocked more than anything but he tried his best to hide it.

And while I shook his hand, I felt the pulse in his fingertips.

That gulp earlier wasn't out of nervousness.

That was the first time I felt the oppressive guilt of my consciousness.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I didn't know what to classify myself as. I couldn't exactly say that I was a student anymore, because I was already seventeen and a half and already out of school. Nor could I say that being 'free as a flying bird' from studies acquainted itself distastefully to the amount of the 'free flying fucks' I gave about the subject. It had been a recurring daydream of mine to study optometry. Not the most classy job option, I know, but I liked observing eyes.

So I guess, the daydream and my yearning for studying led me to enjoy the time that I spent sorting out the piles upon piles of files that Iemitsu and his team hoarded.

And oh boy, did they hoard themselves happy.

The process took a while to get through and along with filing them in the correct section, starting from the earliest date and what it was called, I had to look through them to see if any papers were misfiled.

"What the heck is all this junk?" I asked, the first time Iemitsu introduced me to the Den.

The Den was what they referred to as the information basement of the CEDEF headquarters, to which it served to provide vital information when either the main server was down, or when they have to shutdown the system due to a breach. I'm sure there were many other reasons for why they kept this much paper, but they could've been better about it. There was more paper here than the school gym and this was no small joke. I bet Iemitsu's pretty chuffed with himself, finding his very own gofer.

"This is the Den, m'pride n' joy!" He yelled, slapping my back hard, to which I yelped and rubbed the sore area. He had a laughable way to things and when he wasn't shooting people up or deciding to stuff his face with cake and whatnot, he'd often coo around his office, staring at a picture of what I assumed was his family.

I spent days on end there, switching between being a librarian of sorts, training with Dino, helping Lal on certain situations, studying languages with Basil when I had the time and trying to find any intel on the black suits. I spent at least a year there since breaking in, discovering a new pathway. Al helped out too sometimes but my rascal kitty sometimes went off on his own to explore the city. Couldn't blame him. No normal person would want to stay here.

My favourite section hadn't been decided yet. The files ranged from drunk incidents from former, executed employees of CEDEF to illegal scientific experiments that had been shut down successfully. I didn't take much interest in looking at the experiments, since most of the files provided photos to which made my lunch seem unattractive, much to Basil's delight. (The kid eats a lot.) The favourite at the moment were the assassination brief papers. They weren't gorey and no bullets were piercing through anybody's skull.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

"Run faster Dino!"

I could hear the loud clomping of his feet on the ground and while I was running just a bit faster, my breathing pattern wasn't stable. Of course, all I really wanted to do in life was read a good book with a hot cup of tea and lie on a porch with a massive pair of sunglasses. However, I think the large Leon-Ball of spikes that was chasing us through the Cavallone estate was a good enough incentive.

"Turn left!," He called from behind, pointing at a wall. "It's a thin space!"

"Idiot, Leon _will_ fit in there!"

"DO YOU WANT TO KEEP RUNNING?!"

"NO BUT IF WE STOP WE'LL BE A PANCAKE!"

"Fuck this," He muttered, spinning on one foot and grabbing his whip, something that he always carried on his body, even when we stopped at the supermarket. The momentum of running made his sneakers skid on the dirt ground, and I threw a look backwards, watching how his whip wrapped around Leon's wide form. Dino groaned in struggle as he used his free hand to hold on further up the whip. "C-Come on!"

Leon went flying into the forest, making a massive crash that caused the earth to rumble. I stopped running away and jogged back to Dino, who was winding up his whip. Reborn made his entrance, while Al jumped from the first floor roof and almost would have landed on Reborn, if Reborn hadn't jumped onto Dino's shoulder, then his head.

_That was a good move_, Reborn mused, and while I raised my eyebrow at his statement, Dino thought I was looking at him for a statement on our performance.

"Average." Reborn finally said, which Dino loudly objected to.

My hand rested on my belly. "Well, that's your fault then since you didn't even let us have lunch!"

"Yeah!" Dino nodded, his own hand on his stomach, head looking upwards. If this were a cartoon, he'd have fake tears streaming down both sides of his cheeks.

Reborn's snappy way of mind was about to bare its teeth, until his own stomach did the talking, emitting a very loud grumble. He smirked, his facial expression never changing and looked at me with beady black eyes.

"Make me an espresso!"

"Rude much? You didn't even say please!" I stomped my foot and Al stretched out his kitty legs, wondering about a tuna sandwich. "But now that you mention it, I could go for some cafe food."

"Oo! What about some Gateaux?!" Dino exclaimed, his face lighting up like a ferris wheel.

"I was thinking more of a meat-pie sort of thing and a cola, but sure, cake sounds nice!"

Reborn smiled, and not a twitch in his face was present. "So predictable Phillipa. You would go for anything that could be eaten."

"That's not true."

_"He's right on the bullseye with that one Phillipa."_

I shook my head. "I'm not fond of coffee."

Dino's eyes widened and he covered my mouth with his hand. "Are you crazy! That's like a taboo thing around Reborn!"

"No, I know that." Reborn replied, shrugging. "She's a hot chocolate girl."

I smiled widely and heard Dino's formal name being called out from inside the house. Dino's head-honcho body guard and companion, Romario, jogged out of the house, towards us just as Leon found his own way back onto Reborn's fedora.

As soon as he started speaking, I frowned.

"Master Dino, I think you should come inside now. Your father wishes to see you."

Dino nodded without hesitation and waved goodbye to us. Romario followed after him, but not before bowing his head to us.

"I suggest you head on back to CEDEF headquarters, Miss Marsh." He said politely, in his gruff, ageing voice.

I nodded, knowing that I didn't really have a choice.

This didn't end well.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I found myself with a full belly, spending the remainder of the weekend sitting in the Den. But since I found myself sitting on piles, surrounded by piles, almost enveloped in an avalanche of paper, I made base camp near the front door, since that was the only place where I could step without unintentionally committing suicide. So, I had a box of recently purchased risotto and was filing a pile in the corner. Murders, assassinations and suicides to the left, thievery, cover-ups and mishaps on the right.

Allemande, I realised that weekend, not due to his obscene, non-stop talking, but through his moments of sleep that he had a soft spot for comics, such brands from both DC and Marvel. There were images of them burned very clearly in his mind and I had a feeling that they were from Basil's trunk that he kept locked at the end of his bed.

Everything was going okay too. I'd just finished going through a murder that had involved a hitman that went rogue after falling in love with his hit. The details showed the guy now dead along with the hitman and apparently, they were conversing together and brainstorming against the Vongola. Three hours after the hit was issued, they were dead. And I'd folded all of the containing files neatly and placed it to the left, when I came across a folder that should not have been here at all.

A folder, with a big stamp across it that screamed_ 'TOP PRIORITY'_, in a tone that I could've mistaken for like in a James Bond movie. The folder was had a good thickness, about the size of the fifth Harry Potter book from my old school library. Turning my head to Al, I heard his snores, his nose wiggling and thoughts lying around guy fawkes day and fireworks, but nothing to suggest his brain waves could hear me turn through pages and pages of vague experiments, both successful and failed, outdated information and incidents by a man named Verde; an arcobaleno I had yet to encounter.

Oh, but I knew his reputation by name. For the total of one entire day, Reborn sat me on my butt and taught me what he knew of the Mafia world. Not entirely all of it, and now that I had time to think about it, not terribly a lot, but a few trivial things.

Like never to trust a man named Verde.

The file, I assumed, should be sent to Iemitsu for checking but instead, I climbed across the room and hid it in a pile that was about my height. Then, I stepped lightly on my feet back to where I'd gotten up.

No need to tell him just yet.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Hey guys, what's crackalacking? Nothing, just skimming through fanfictions while under a blanket and/or on the couch? Cool, sounds fun! I'm so pleased this week. I don't really know why, but I'm just happy. :D**

**Thanks for reading, once again.**

**Replies:**

**Basically, yes to everything.**

**Yes to Dino.**

**:D**

**Verdigurl out~**


	11. Socialism

**Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**My Fate is Certainly Uncertain**

**Chapter 11: Socialism**

**Overall Warnings: Violence, swearing, blood and Oc-ness.**

**[Written to:T-ara - Why Are You Being Like This]**

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

It became common knowledge, when regarding the state of Dino's father. I got a call from him the week after, at around eleven at night, asking me what I thought of it. I honestly didn't know how to reply to "Oh, My Father's dying and he wants me to step up and have the inheritance ceremony soon".

I hadn't had sick parents, nor anything to inherit, so I didn't know how to go about this sort of thing. Emotions wasn't a specialty of mine. My immediate response was to ask what he thought.

He sighed heavily and in a sleepy voice, replied," I'm not sure if I can."

To which I shouted, "What do you mean you're not sure?!"

My mind didn't even consider the possibility that Dino would back down. I knew from experience that he's a bit frigid when dealing with Reborn, but I thought that he'd do okay as a Mafia boss. My thoughts were wandering around the fact that he was_ literally_ born for the job, so why wasn't he keen?

"I just don't think the family needs a leader that is clumsy."

I frowned. "You know, when I first met you, you were complaining about how ready you were."

"I know what I said." He replied, sounding like he was pouting. "But that was months ago! I hadn't realised how scary everything would be!"

"But Reborn spent all of that time training you, for god knows how long? Heck, he probably spent more time with you than I did knowing him!"

"W-What?!"

I t'ched, not meaning to include that last bit. "Ignore all of that, okay? All I'm saying is that nobody asks to join the Mafia willingly without losing. There's no choices here, only the strong, smart, the admired and the followers."

"You don't get it Phillipa, I want the best for them!"

"Then actually think about them, dufus!"

"I am."

"No you're not." I said articulately, holding the receiver of the phone very close to my mouth. It just made my blood boil to hear this. "Yes, you might be hella clumsy and they've probably already noticed like everybody else, but come on Dino. They love you. Think about how they would feel if you bailed out on them after their fucking leader dies! They would be distraught, the-"

"Don't swear at my father." He said bluntly.

I rolled my eyes, knowing that I didn't specifically indicate that. "Sorry."

But it's the truth Dino. I've never seen someone else cherished by so many people at one time.

They really do love you.

"But thanks for giving me a pep talk." He said, a bit of life inking back into his voice. I hoped that he was smiling at least a little because when someone you care about is dying sucks.

My back arched straight and I coughed as Al pounced on a passing spider. "Now, don't you call me back whining, ya hear?! Or else, I'm gonna come over and kick you myself! Plus, if Reborn hears you acting, you're bound to be on the top of his hit list!"

"But I can still call you if I have any more trouble, right?" He asked.

"Heck no."

"Phillipa! You're so mean!"

I rolled my eyes and hung the phone up, thinking that I needed more sleep.

Dino's father died three days after the phone-call, from a stroke.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

A week after the very lavish funeral had happened, preparations were in full swing for Dino's inheritance ceremony. Everybody was looking forward to it, putting the sad feelings behind them. Even Reborn was thinking that it would be nice, since one hadn't happened in so long. However, during the time period of the funeral and the day before the inheritance ceremony, Reborn pushed Dino harder than ever, as it was his last chance to whip him into action.

I assumed that Reborn had heard Dino's thoughts of it all, because yet another week had passed when I'd been pulled out from the comfort of my durvet and taken into the wilderness of a mountain range, along with Basil and Dino.

"This weekend, we're camping!" Reborn announced, Leon licking his nostril. I felt quite lonely, since Al wasn't permitted to come. Not that he would have came anyway.

"Yay camping!" I repeated, holding my hands up right in the air.

Basil blinked. "Wow Phillipa-sama, I didn't know you liked to camp!"

"I don't," I said, putting my hands down. "I never went on school trips."

"Never?" Dino questioned.

Reborn shot a bullet in the air, causing the three of us to shut our gabs. "Enough socialising! We're not here to party, we're here for a mission!"

"A mission?" Dino asked, feeling a little alarm bells go off, which by the way I felt too.

"Dino, for you to go on to become the head of the family, you need to man up!" Reborn crossed his arms, his gaze switching constantly. Dino shot a glare my way, to which I instantly put up my hands and shook my head.

"I didn't say anything." I mouthed.

"You need to learn how to lead better."

From under the brim of his fedora, Reborn looked at Basil next, who gulped slightly under his breath. Basil wasn't one to show his fear in front of people, so his face looked tight, as he was clenching his teeth.

"Basil, you too need to man up, but you need to also improve your defensive strategies. Iemitsu has kindly asked me to take you on this weekend and I accepted. You should do some good to prove his pride right. He thinks well of you."

Basil's thin lips smiled gleefully, his eyes scrunching up at the sides like a finished candy wrapper that a boy tosses into the street after his mother gave it to him to shut up. It wasn't uncommon for me see smiles like this from him, but his thoughts were different. He pondered through his own memories, ones that I won't go into too much detail. The main mood from him was the underlying sense of gratitude.

It was a kind that spread quickly like the warmth of a hot water bottle. A kind that I wish I could feel right now.

"And what about Phillipa?" Dino asked, pointing at me.

"She needs to figure out what to learn." Reborn said, without giving away any secrets. No answers, nothing. I felt really peeved. Not to mention that I didn't have breakfast, I didn't get a full explanation either to why it was compulsory to leave Al at home. I felt like an amputee. "And don't cuss at me. You're going to have to work together to get out of this one."

Dino's eyed bulged, thinking that I really am a lunatic when, I swear to God or the god of strawberry milkshakes, Reborn disappeared.

He disappeared leaving the three of us in the wilderness alone.

Alone.

Basil looked around, alarmed. "Where did Reborn-sama go?"

"I knew it." Dino slapped his forehead, groaning inwardly. "I knew he was going to do something like that. Why this week of all weeks?"

"Because it's your last week as a free man before you're chained up." I replied coolly, adjusting the straps on my backpack. We all had one each, with the things we packed into them fitting snuggly. They weren't much.

Dino sighed at my comment. "Gee, thanks."

"Well, if we're going to be in the wilderness for the night, we better find water and shelter." Basil paused, a finger on his bottom lip. "What are we going to eat…?"

"Come 'n then." I said, walking downhill.

"Why are you going that way?! From the helicopter, I saw the path in the other direction!"

"Yeah, along with a valley and several feral animals. Dino, you ain't gonna get over all of those trees and bushes in time for the ceremony. It's better to head downhill, as water will flow that way." I turned by back and kept walking.

Soon, they too followed without much qualms.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

After tramping through bushes and uneven terrain, we eventually found a small stream that Dino could dip his canteen into. The months had turned into autumn, so the night was creeping up fast. The boys had taken off their packs and dumped them on the ground. Big sweatmarks were on all of us-around our armpits and necklines. Heck, I'd put on deodorant this morning, but after today, I think I would need something stronger.

I didn't expect it, but Basil was probably the tiredest out of us all. I'd gotten the stabbing sort of thought that he knew that his endurance wasn't the best. Through the months I'd trained with him, he focused heavily on his offensive attacks. Only recently had he started using the Dying Will pills. I tried them too once, but they tasted too bitter for me and made my chest feel tight.

He sat down by the brook and dipped a hand in and splashed water in his face. His breathing was slowly shifting into a peaceful pace. Dino opened his pack, smiling slightly at the sight of canned food like tomatoes and pears. (A weird combination.)

"That can wait." I said, opening Basil's pack. Inside were camping materials that Basil and I could easily put up. I put Dino in charge of getting some food ready, so at least we could get something in our stomachs and then decide which way to go next. We would need a source of fire, and a shelter in case it rained overnight. We'd also need to find a way off of the mountain, to get to Dino's shindig on time.

"Connect this pole here…."

"Ah!" I clicked them together, to form the top of the tent. "Coolio!"

"...Phillipa….."

I looked over my shoulder at Dino, who sat away with his back to us. I heard clanking sounds and when shuffled over, he hid his embarrassed face and thrusted the can and can opener into my hands.

"Show me!"

My eyebrow raised by itself. "What?"

"Show me how to open it!"

Blue eyes blinked. "Dino, do you not know how to open a can?"

He face blushed beet red and he shook his head furiously, his fringe covering his eyes. "W-What? No! I didn't need to k-know how to open a can before!"

"So you've never cooked? At all?"

"...no.."

"Not even toast?"

Hey, I mean, toast you can't exactly fuck up easily.

"I've never needed to cook my own meals. " He bashfully replied with honesty.

"Here, you put your hand on the handle like this and then put the opener on the outside of the can. Then," I twisted the handle. "Ta-da, you've got an open can with food that'll last for months. Easy-peasy." I handed the stuff back to him. "Should be simple now that you've seen it."

"Yeah…" Dino replied, his eyes flickering. "Should be…"

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

I huddled by the small campfire that Dino managed to make out of small twigs, leaves and ripped bits of a book that he had brought with him and was internally complaining about. It had been one he really liked. My mood had dropped completely to the point where I just decided to grunt at everything. Screw words.

Basil laid out on his back, his twisted ankle sitting near the fire. Earlier, we were attacked by a couple of wolves when I was off foraging for fruits and berries. He'd tried to run but ended up tripping up on a tree root. Dino had pulled him up a tree while the wolves tore up the campsite. They demolished the food and destroyed the tent. Plus, on top of that, I hadn't found anything. We had to locate to another area and start from scratch.

My legs were tucked up and hands around them. I gave Basil my blanket and he snored quietly under it, oblivious to anything else. Dino sat on the other side on the campfire, also huddled into a ball. Thankfully, it hadn't rained yet and I could see some stars clearly, but that only meant that we were in for a cold night.

_Stupid Reborn...Stupid camp...Why did Reborn make me come along anyway when the inheritance ceremony will happen soon? It's bad enough Dad's gone...when all I wanted say to he- Phillipa's looking at me. Why is she looking at me?_

_Her face is like Reborns...C-Crap!_

"W-What's up?" He asked, his brown doe eyes fluttering. The light of the fire highlighted his hair, the shadows obviously flickering off the trees.

I shook my head, my hair still sopping wet. "N-Nothing. Are you cold?"

"Aren't you?" He asked back cheekily, smiling. I found myself smiling as well, too tired to counter back. My limbs were sore and an argument against Dino would prove to be as useful as soggy mashed potatoes.

"Nah."

Dino looked at me with one eyebrows raised and thought liar.

I nodded, and not thinking clearly, I responded. "I am and I get it Dino, you're upset. You don't want this life and I don't want this life either." I closed my heavy eyelids and rolled onto my side. "Life sucks."

"What?" He blinked rapidly, looking up from the flames. "Did you just read my mind?"

"I what?" I paused. "Ah crap…...stupid tiredness…"

"You can read minds?"

"Well yeah." I said, opening one eye. "I don't get it, why is it so surprising? I mean, Reborn reads minds and I'm his spawn, so technically, following a line of genetics, I should too. And I do."

"You read minds and didn't tell me?"

"What's to tell? I do things I can't explain. Things that I don't want to explain." I re-closed my eyes and rolled over. "G'night blondie. See ya in the morning."

He sighed and just as my mind was fading out, I heard him thinking again, and how Basil's mixed in with his, creating a soup like muddle that I couldn't be bothered to work out.

Teehee.

He called me a weirdo.

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

_Rachael..._

I shot up out of my slumber. I'd been dreaming of warm soup and rabbits when that voice woke me up.

_Rachel..._

It wasn't a male's, and certainly, it wasn't one I knew.

However, during the next few seconds, I heard more voices coming to where we slept. Dino and Basil were still completely out of it. Dino had dark bags under his eyes, and it gave me the impression that he'd stayed up for way longer than I did.

I got up immediately and covered them both with my shield, like a dome. Then, I scanned the area. We were still relatively surrounded by trees, but there were less bushes and more tussock grasses that were soft to sleep on.

I didn't stray too far from the campsite, as I didn't want to lose myself in the forest. My shoes were soaking wet from having to run through the creek yesterday. I slipped between the trunks and made my way towards the voices, creeping closer to where I'd heard them first.

I then spotted moving shadows. It had turned out to be a slightly sunny day, so they were somewhat visible between the streams of sunlight and the shadows of the foliage. Instead of breathing through my nose, I quietly breathed through my open mouth. As soon as I got near the stalking men, I jumped on one of them and tackled him onto the ground.

My back straightened and got up off of the man, who was now unconscious. "R-Romario?"

"Ms Marsh!" He called, encasing me with a big hug. It startled me at first, his abrupt kindness, but I then patted his back lightly and smiled.

"Holy sh….."

"Ms, do you know where the Boss is?" He asked, and then he frowned. "Where are the kidnappers?"

They're already calling him Boss, huh?

"Wait, kidnappers?" I repeated. "There aren't any."

"What? But Master Reborn said….."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course….only he would have the balls to d-"

A shriek came from within the foliage, and without another second, Romario sprinted into the direction that I came from. I followed and soon enough, I found myself back in the clearing where I'd left the boys alone. I heard Dino's panicking voice, and immediately swore at myself.

"What do we do?" Romario asked, in an urgent voice. "What is that thing?!"

"So-ree."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry!" I repeated, taking down the shield. "Sorry Dino! I thought the wolves might have returned!"

"This is your doing?!" He yelled questionly, and Basil stirred, his face flinching as he tried to move his ankle.

"There's no reason for you to yell at me!"

"You're yelling too!"

"Enough you two." Romario yelled, joining the gabble too, claiming silence on us all. We both stared at the bulky man, and I got the feeling that I shouldn't say anything further. However, Dino didn't get that post-it-note and decided to keep on talking. Not about anything rude, but just talking about anything and everything.

Eventually I got tired of hearing him complain. I checked Basil's foot and picked him up, carrying on my back. He gripped my shirt quite tightly and was still half asleep. As Dino was mobbed by his men, checking to see if their beloved new Boss was okay, I walked away, escorted I should note, to wherever Dino's men came from.

I got home, back to CEDEF headquarters two and a half, maybe even three hours later, almost in time for lunch. Not that I had any. I was too tired to eat, so I went to bed, while Basil went to check on some of the company's other operatives.

Al was already sleeping on the pillow when I came in. I took a shower and climbed under the light duvet sheets and put my head next his body, finally sighing loudly.

_" 'Ello stranger."_ He said in a southern accent. _"Haven't seen you in ages."_ He looked at my face. _"You look terrible."_

"I feel crap."

_"Is it that time of the month?"_

My nose snorted. "It might have been the fact that I slept on dirt last night."

_"Not cool?"_

"Not at all."

Al's head turned to the wardrobe on the other side of the room, to where I had put the dress that I would be wearing to the ceremony in a day's time. Basil had a similar wardrobe on his side of the room as well. I hadn't expected myself to get invited to something as high-class as this, so when Reborn had asked me to be his plus one, I said I'd think about it. This was four days after Dino's father's funeral. After I'd decided that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for me to have some off time, I found in my room a dress that had been delivered by airmail that fitted me perfectly.

Which I was concerned, on how Reborn knew my measurements.

_"You're wearing that?"_

"It's not like I have any choice, dufus."

He laid his head back down and closed his yellow eyes. His tail flicked every once in awhile and all I could hear was the both of us breathing, our voices and thoughts. _"It's a bit vintage for your taste."_

I shrugged. "I'm more concerned about the heels I have to wear. I have a feeling I'm either gonna get blisters or fall flat on my face."

I heard him chuckle.

_"At least you won't be unarmed."_

* * *

**~o0o~**

* * *

**Oh my!**

**Forgive me guys for being harsh on Dino, Old Sports! D:**

**Anywho, here's another chapter down. I hope you like it, and I'm thinking it'll be an intermission of a sorts. Soon, the main plotline will come in a couple of chapters, I think. *Plans are awesome to have, very hard to write into words***

**Chapter Ten, I am proud to say has reached 61 reviews, 51 favourites, 72 follows and 3 communities. I think you all know how grateful I am for you taking the time to read my story, so thank you. I'm so happy you've decide to not do cough-homework-cough, like me, and instead read a story from my never sleeping imagination. Thank you Thank you Thank you.**

**Replies:**

**GreenDrkness: Yes yes, very sneaky. A girl after my own heart! I can say she won't go back from him. :( *Sad face***

**Viper's girl: *Jessie's girl playing in my mind as soon as I read your name* I know, right. No time for yourself when all you want to do is blob out. I never thought I'd hear Al as cute, but it's a compliment either way and I'm sure he'd love that. (Al: Ohohoh~ A fangirl, I see… :{) )**

**Angelic Fluffle: I love him too! He's my fave next to Leon and Reborn!**

**Alrighty guys! I'll keep powering on and I'll see ya when I see ya!**

**-Verdigurl!**


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